The Pleasant Unity Volunteer Fire Department
is a registered Pennsylvania non-profit corporation
under the laws of our commonwealth. Our department
operates with funding obtained from several
different sources as you will see below.
Our members are all volunteer and receive
no compensation at all for their service
to our community. These same members are
also responsible for the daily operations
which include the task of raising funds to
exist. These duties are in addition to answering
emergency calls and training. We wanted to
let the members of our community know our
average annual operating expenses and the
sources from which we receive funding.
Our department regularly
applies for grants
from a number of different
sources and has
occasionally been awarded
such grants. Most
past grants have been for
specific fire equipment
purchases and are not included
in the above
pie graph as receipt of
these grants are
sporadic at best. A listing
of grants received
over the last five years
is included below.
2006 - Pennsylvania Volunteer
Fire Company
and Volunteer Ambulance
Service Grant Program.
This was a grant instituted
by the PA Legislature
to help improve and enhance
the capabilities
of Pennsylvania volunteer
fire companies
and volunteer ambulance
services. Grants
were capped at a maximum
of $15,000.00 per
fire company; however,
due to the high number
of qualified applications
the maximum grant
we received was $9,500.00.
We applied to
purchase some equipment
including a set of
large hydraulic cutters
for vehicle rescue,
3 alerting radio minitors
for fire fighters,
2 new 800mhz portable radios
and an electronic
siren to replace a unit
beyond repair.
2005 - Pennsylvania Volunteer
Fire Company
and Volunteer Ambulance
Service Grant Program.
This was a grant instituted
by the PA Legislature
to help improve and enhance
the capabilities
of Pennsylvania volunteer
fire companies
and volunteer ambulance
services. Grants
were capped at a maximum
of $15,000.00 per
fire company; however,
due to the high number
of qualified applications
the maximum grant
we received was $9,500.00.
We applied to
purchase 4 complete sets
of structural personal
protective equipment, 9
sets of lightweight
forestry personal protective
equipment, 4
heavy duty 100volt floodlights
to be used
at fire scenes and vehicle
accidents and
also a positive pressure
ventilation fan
to push contaminates of
combustion out of
a building that was on
fire. We also included
a misting ring accessory
for the fan which
dispenses a spray of water
through the fan
to help rehab firefighters
at emergency calls.
2004 - Pennsylvania Volunteer
Fire Company
and Volunteer Ambulance
Service Grant Program.
This was a grant instituted
by the PA Legislature
to help improve and enhance
the capabilities
of Pennsylvania volunteer
fire companies
and volunteer ambulance
services. Grants
were capped at a maximum
of $15,000.00 per
fire company; however,
due to the high number
of qualified applications
the maximum grant
we received was $9,824.38.
We applied to
again specify our grant
in the debt reduction
category to help reduce
one of our two loans
taken to purchase the new
combination rescue
pumper truck which was
delivered in 1999.
With the $9,824.38 received
from this grant
and an additional $13,351.06
from our PUVFD
savings we were able to
pay off this one
loan on the 1999 truck.
2004 - Volunteer Fire Assistance
Program
through the Pennsylvania
Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources.
This grant was a 50% matching
grant program
with a maximum grant of
$5000.00 per company
to purchase wildfire suppression
and protective
equipment to help improve
the fire protection
of rural areas of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
We purchased five new 800mhz
radios to be
used with the new Westmoreland
County Department
of Public Safety radio
system. Total cost
of the 5 radios was $9,446.00
and we received
$4723.00 from this grant
to offset our costs.
2002 – Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Fire Act Grant Program
This grant was received by our department
in its second year of existence
and appears
it will be an ongoing program.
This program
allows us to enter under
one of several categories
for grant assistance. We
chose to enter under
the firefighter safety
and equipment section
requesting funds to replace
firefighter protective
gear and our self contained
breathing apparatus
(SCBA) [air masks]. We
stated our case to
the review board advising
of the poor condition
of our protective gear
and the need for new
updated SCBA with the most
current safety
features. FEMA awarded
us our request to
purchase 20 full sets of
protective gear
and 10 SCBA with 10 spare
air tanks. This
grant was a 90/10 split
so we received $91,931.00
and had to provide $10,214
from our own funds
to purchase this equipment.
2000 – Pennsylvania Volunteer Fire Company
and Volunteer Ambulance
Service Grant Program.
This grant was a one time
grant available
to help improve and enhance
the capabilities
of volunteer fire companies
and volunteer
ambulance services. Grants
were capped at
a maximum of $15,000.00
per company; however,
due to the high number
of qualified applications
the maximum grant received
was $9,900.00.
We applied to specify our
grant in the debt
reduction category to help
reduce one of
our two loans taken to
purchase the new combination
rescue pumper combination
truck which was
delivered in 1999. The
$9,900.00 was used
as a payment on the principal
of our higher
interest loan.
1999 – Pennsylvania Department of Community
and Economic Development
This grant received was a one time allotment
as part of the PA Community
Revitalization
Program. With the help
of Representative
Jess Stairs we applied
for this one time
$5,000.00 grant to purchase
new fire hose
to replace 25 year old
fire hose. This was
received in conjunction
with the delivery
of our new rescue pumper
combination unit
in 1999.
1997 – Rural Community
Fire Protection Program
through the Pennsylvania
Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources
This grant received was
a 50% matching grant
program with a maximum
grant of $1500 per
company to purchase wildfire
suppression
equipment and personal
protective gear. We
purchased 18 sets of Nomex
Fireproof Coveralls
for our members to wear
for field/brush/forest
fires at a total cost of
$3289.85. We received
the maximum of $1500.00
from this program
to offset our costs.
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