The past year has been a year full of change. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused considerable stressors on the community and has affected a number of our residents. Fortunately, most have recovered from their exposure to the Covid-19 virus. Fire and Medical personnel have put their own lives at risk responding to medical calls within our District.
Because 2020 was such an abnormal year, donations to the Sherwood Firefighters Foundation have been substantially lower than usual. Nonetheless, the Foundation has continued to be involved in helping to improve the safety of the District. The Sherwood Forest Fire District has seen many improvements, upgrades and enhancements. The newly appointed Fire Chief, John Moede, brought a great deal of firefighting and medical expertise, a new vision, and vitality to renew the fire department, its outdated facility, and less than fully operational apparatus. As always, Sherwood Forest Fire District volunteers remain a valuable, dedicated crew.
The Foundation collaborated with the Chief on critical needs and prioritized very much needed maintenance and improvements. The Chief used considerable portions of his budget to bring the apparatus up to appropriate mechanical and firefighting capability. The Foundation then supported the District with $32,000 in grants to upgrade the electrical wiring in the Fire District buildings in order to address safety issues and to comply with building codes. The grants also funded wider, roll-up bay doors needed for larger, modern apparatus, as well as other building upgrades. Another major grant has been approved to install concrete aprons in front of the fire buildings.
Radio communication is recognized as a critical safety issue when deploying to and operating at emergency incident scenes. It has been a chronic difficulty within our District because of terrain and vegetation that restrict the signals. Chief Moede has taken the lead on a major communications project. When completed, it will provide the following safety benefits:
- Vastly improved communications over a much wider area.
- Direct communication with Guardian Medical dispatch.
- Direct communication with other surrounding agencies.
Commercial grade communication systems required to accomplish this project are very expensive. Although the total amount has not been finalized yet, the Foundation will be supporting Sherwood Forest Fire District with a grant somewhere in the area of $20,000 for this communications project.
All of these grants have primarily been made possible by the generosity and community mindedness of residents and property owners in the Sherwood Forest Fire District. As I explained earlier in this report, donations were understandably very lean during 2020. To continue to support efforts to make this a better, safer community and Fire District, we need YOUR support and donations. As you can see, those who live in and own property within the District directly benefit from such contributions.
Remember, Sherwood Firefighters Foundation is an IRS 501(c)3 charity foundation, so all financial donations to the Foundation are tax deductible. I urge you to consider supporting your community by making a donation. Send your donations through our website www.sherwoodfirefightersfoundation.org or directly to the following mailing address:
Sherwood Firefighters Foundation
PO Box 911
Williams, AZ 86046
Thank you for your support,
Bob Simoneau, President
Sherwood Firefighters Foundation