Amidst Challenges Replacing Volunteers, Local Business Supports Area Firefighters with Donation

COUNTRY Financial Representative Tim Caldwell is pleased to support the Tamms Volunteer Fire Department, the McClure East Cape Fire Department, and the Horseshoe Lake Fire Department with donations of $500 each. Check presentations were made recently to area volunteer fire department leadership. The funds support efforts to recruit and help new team members complete certifications and training to become volunteer firefighters.

“Volunteer firefighters spend a lot of time away from families, responding to emergencies and maintaining equipment and firehouse premises,” said Caldwell. “These volunteers are continuously on call and are critically important members of our community. Many current volunteers are retiring, so it is incumbent on all of us to support a new generation of volunteer firefighters with the equipment and training they need to be able to continue this noble work.”

According to the National Fire Protection Association, two-thirds of the United States’ 1.1 million firefighters are volunteers. But despite their importance, volunteer recruitment and retention has been steadily declining over the last few decades. The NFPA indicates volunteer counts have gone from 900,000 volunteers in 1984 to as low as 677,000 in 2020.

COUNTRY Financial has donated more than $5 million since 2020 to organizations and programs that support teachers, first responders, active-duty service members and veterans, supporting the company’s vision to “enrich lives in the communities we serve.” The Operation Helping Heroes program was created in 2015 to support non-profit events and programs that benefit active-duty service members, veterans, and their families. Later, the program expanded to include first responders and teachers.