NVFC congratulates winners on the $10,000 grants

PIKEVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF) – A few weeks ago, it was announced that nine volunteer fire departments in Tennessee were awarded a $10,000 grant.

One of the recipients is in our viewing area. Congratulations to the Rigsby Volunteer Fire Department.

While celebrating the good news, News 12 spoke with the chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council to learn why these grants are so important.

Fire Chief Justin Jackson with the Rigsby Volunteer Fire Department said, “We applied for the State Farm Good Neighbor Safety Grant several months ago and received word just a few weeks back that we were selected.”

Volunteer fire departments often run on limited budgets, but the National Volunteer Fire Council helps bridge the financial gap.

Chairman Steve Hirsch with the National Volunteer Fire Council explained, “These departments scrape by on very little money and we were pleased to be partnering with State Farm. Last year, they started out with half a million dollars in their grant fund and decided that the need was so great they increased it to a million dollars. This year they raised it again to a million and a half dollars. Ten thousand dollars might not sound like a lot, but it really helps small fire departments.”

Partnerships like the Good Neighbor Firefighter Safety Program with State Farm help ensure local departments have the resources they need to continue serving their communities.

Hirsch added, “This is an annual program, at least for last year and this year, and we hope that it will continue in the coming years. The NVFC provides a lot of grant opportunities like this. We have a partnership with Nutella right now providing $5,000 grants to fire departments. We also have a program with Globe Gear that gives away 52 sets of fire gear every year. We would love to see more companies step up and put money into these programs as well.”

The NVFC says its goal is simple, to help volunteer firefighters have everything they need so small towns are not left behind when disaster strikes.

Hirsch also encouraged people to consider joining their local departments.

“There is nothing better than being a volunteer firefighter. There just is no other occupation that gives you the kind of return on your investment. I want to encourage people to volunteer because there are very few fire departments that could not use more people.”