The Corydon Democrat
Wednesday, April 10, 2002

Foundation approves plan for fire department grants

Representatives from the Harrison County Community Foundation and each of the county volunteer fire departments met recently to discuss future grant applications. The result was a special plan to help the Foundation meet some of the firefighters' more critical needs.

"The problem we had," said Foundation chair Carl Uesseler, "is that we aren't firemen. We were considering grants from multiple departments for a variety of often very expensive equipment. With inadequate resources to meet all the fire department requests plus other types of grant applications, the Foundation just didn't know how to prioritize which departments needed our help the most."

Under the agreement reached between the Foundation and the firefighters, one grant application will be submitted by the Fire Chief's Association. This application will provide a prioritized request on behalf of the fire departments with the greatest needs. Everyone concerned agreed that personnel safety equipment and training could be a logical focus area.

"I was very pleased with the cooperation of the firemen," added Foundation executive director Steve Gilliland. "There is no guarantee that all or even part of the fire department requests will be funded, but the firemen understood that their advice would help our grants committee get the biggest bang for any grant funds to our fire departments."

The Community Foundation has made other changes to their grant application recently. Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact the Foundation at 738-6668.