Local volunteer fire departments use every bit of their donations from the community to purchase equipment, supplies and training for their volunteers.
However, they’re concerned that other fundraising campaigns could be cutting into their much-needed donations.
An organization conducting a fundraising campaign through the mail, called the Volunteer Firefighter Alliance, is not affiliated with local fire departments. Whether the alliance’s campaign is a scam or a well meaning — but perhaps misguided fundraiser — is unclear.
“We’re in the middle of our fund drive,” explained Chief Dan Burkhouse of the Bradford Township Volunteer Fire Department.
The concern is that residents who may be intending to provide funding to Bradford Township — or another local department — might be inadvertently sending money that will never make it back into the local area.
The Bradford Township VFD sent out a second mailing for the year a couple of weeks ago; on Thursday, Burkhouse received in the mail a letter from the Volunteer Firefighter Alliance asking for donations.
The letter talked about the service of Pennsylvania volunteer firefighters to their communities — then asked people to send money to their headquarters in Topeka, Kan.
Burkhouse wasn’t sure if any of the money collected by the alliance made it to local department hands, but he knew if it was anything, it was very little.
People who want to support their local departments will want to pay attention to where mailings come from. If people are unsure how to donate to the correct department, ask someone from the department directly.
Bradford Township VFD’s mailings are mailed from an outfit out of Pittsburgh due to the number it sends out. However, when donors send the mailings back, they go directly to the fire department’s P.O. box in Custer City.
At an August meeting of the Tri-County Firefighters Association held in Eldred Township, Elk County firefighters brought up concerns, as people in several Elk County communities received mailings from the Volunteer Firefighter Alliance.
In fact, it seems people statewide have been getting them.
The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors was so concerned with how the mailings might affect Pennsylvania fire departments that it wrote a letter asking members to warn fire departments and residents.
“There is a tough enough battle to preserve volunteer fire departments without outside intervention filtering well intentioned dollars out of state,” the letter stated.
