ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Black Hills Energy frequently works with community partners in its service area, and its most recent work concerns volunteer firefighters.
The Funds For Firefighters project aims to provide financial assistance to fire departments ranging from $100 to $2,500 for essential equipment and resources to enhance the safety and effectiveness of firefighting operations in the Black Hills Energy Service territories. Black Hills Energy Operations Support Specialist Elyse Torres said the project was announced a while ago.
“The idea came from our corporate office in South Dakota, and we got an email some time ago from the program manager, and the Black Hills Corporation Foundation picks a special project each year and designates a chunk of the budget toward that for the quarter,” Torres said. “So it's not necessarily a Black Hills employee that gets to set everything up, it's all through the foundation and the corporate office. Last year, that project was all about planting trees across our service areas, and this year, the focus is on volunteer firefighters. With Black Hills, we currently have two full-time employees, Ronnie Sumner and Eric Smalldridge, who serve as volunteers with the Liberal Fire Department, so I feel like it's really great being able to recognize those employees and their volunteering with the fire department. We work hand in hand with the fire department in the event of a gas leak and other similar situations, so keeping that relationship up is great for both parties, and we enjoy being able to help out those entities.”
Black Hills Energy gave a check for $2,330 to the Liberal Fire Department at the June 10 Liberal City Commission meeting, and Liberal Fire Chief Kelly Kirk expressed appreciation for the funds.
“This is quite a blessing we’re receiving. We always have a wish list at the LFD, and it just so happens when Elyse told us about this grant, one of the things on our list was a new rescue mannequin for training purposes,” Kirk said at the meeting. “There’s one on the market now called the Rugged Red, and you can buy a 150-lb, 165-lb or 185-lb mannequin made of fire hose material and stuffed with sand and padding. We put into the grant to purchase one of those rescue mannequins, and we’re also going to buy the extra leggings so when we’re dragging it on asphalt or concrete, it won’t wear everything out. It should last us a long, long time, and it’s something we could really use, especially with the way we’ve changed our training processes in the past couple months. We really appreciate Black Hills Energy stepping up and funding this for us.”
Torres said it was great being able to give the money to a local entity.
“It feels great being able to give back because a lot of times, as a corporation, we're not always able to express our gratitude to specific areas we work with, so it's great to be able to help the LFD get some things on their wish list like Chief Kirk mentioned,” Torres said. “And it really touches home for me because my husband's been a firefighter for 22 years and my dad was a volunteer firefighter himself for several years, so it's great being able to give back. They were really surprised and happy because the money would really help them out, and their gratitude is always very heartfelt and sincere when they receive any kind of funds from us. A couple years ago, we were able to help them purchase a piece of equipment for their fire extinguishers, which they use for training and a lot of other purposes, so they were very grateful for that too. Being able to give back to them, and being able to call anyone and tell them they're going to receive money is always a big surprise because it's always unexpected. Then when we actually gave them the check at the meeting, they were still very thankful and sincere, and like I said, it's great being able to give back to them because we can't say enough how thankful we are for everything they do for us.”
Torres added the LFD did the hard work when it came to the application itself.
“What happens is ... of course the foundation gets together and decides what they feel like should be the focus, and once they do that, they send that to supervisors and managers and let us disburse it,” Torres said. “In our case, since we have two volunteer firefighters on our staff, they spoke to our supervisor and manager and asked 'You have these two volunteer firefighters on your staff, would your fire department be interested?' and then we send the application to the fire department for them to fill out. The fire department did the actual leg work, so to speak, and we don't get to hand-pick or select anything. They take their needs and wants and then go from there as far as the grant application and all of that side of everything.”
Overall, Torres said, she is very proud of participating in the project.
“For us and this local office, whatever the corporation foundation comes up with is always great for us. Sometimes we're able to participate, and there are other times when we simply don't have the capacity to be part of it,” Torres said. “However, if there's every anyone with any questions about what we do, they're more than welcome to visit the Black Hills Energy Web site and see what we have to offer. Each year, we never know what the big project will be until the corporate office lets us know, and we're always excited to see what they say and help as much as we can. Every day is a new day, and anything we're able to provide locally is a blessing for us as much as it is for them, so we look forward to helping as much as we can through the foundation.”
