Fire Department Fundraising

By Sara Laub
The Gunlock Fire Department met with some community members to figure out how to raise money for the grants the department could receive and to build a new fire station. One big idea was to do a Fireman’s Ball since that could raise a lot of money quickly. There were many concerns about the amount of money it would take up front to fund the Ball and also if it would be well received to make the desired profit.
Other means of fundraising were discussed, like having a yard sale or barbecue, but those will not provide enough profit, although they could fund a bigger event. The other option for matching the grants is to have the volunteer firefighters do service hours. The problem with this is there are not enough firefighters to accumulate the hours needed so the department hopes to increase it’s volunteers so the service hours can be greater. They invite everyone in town to volunteer on the fire department to help, no training is required.
The discussion turned to see how much the Northwest Special Service District can provide for Gunlock and there were no certain answers. The meeting ended with many unanswered questions and the plan to meet again in July with the NWSSD board members so Gunlock can make informed decisions that will suit the town best.
The fire department volunteers attended the NWSSD meeting the next day and talked with Steve Haluska and found some answers. Gunlock has no financial assistance from the district because Veyo has to pay off the loan for the building of their department. He said
Central built their department from fundraisers and Brookside from donations. Gunlock will have to do something similar to those two cities and hopefully get a grant to help out. Keep your eyes open for future Gunlock Fire Fundraisers.
Not many of the NWSSD board members can attend the July Gunlock Fire Department meeting as hoped, but there will be an opportunity to get more questions answered.