The U.S Fire Administration estimates that nearly 70 percent of U.S. firefighters are volunteers. Volunteer-fire departments (VFD's) suffer from a severe lack of funding, making them unable to support operations such as resource planning, equipment acquisition and upkeep, retaining qualified personnel, and access to technology. This lack of department funding also means that personal safety items must be purchased by the individual firefighter, or they simply go without.
Firefighters risk their lives responding to emergencies, but they also jeopardize their long-term health through exposure to toxic chemicals and other occupational hazards. Firefighters are at increased risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease and other health conditions.
RuralFRF helps VFD's reduce these health risks and focus their scarce funding on other critical areas by making bulk purchases of decontamination wipes, utility/disposable gloves, safety glasses, and other small personal safety equipment items. These bulk purchases are divided into Care Packages and delivered to the VFD in person or mail.
We also place RuralFRF donation boxes at select retail stores, giving their customers an opportunity to purchase safety items and drop them in the donation box so that we can create Care Packages for rural VFD's in their surrounding counties and states.
