This Giving Tuesday, we celebrate the impact our team members’ make through our Team Member Donation Match Program. This program allows team members to amplify their impact in the communities in which they live and work by matching their individual contributions up to $250. Over the past year, team members have donated to more than 150 nonprofit organizations in their communities.
One of those organizations is the Chickasaw Community Mutual Fire Company, the local fire department of Brenda Mescher, a senior account specialist in our Versailles, Ohio office. Her special connection to local fire departments inspired her to give to the one in her own community. Brenda's father was a 25-year veteran of the St. Henry Volunteer Fire Department. She remembers the countless hours her father and his fellow firefighters dedicated to their work to keep their community safe.
“We saw Dad rush out of the house at all hours of the day and night to help someone in our community. Unfortunately, one very cold winter night, we had a front row seat to watch Dad and the rest of the department battle the fire at our neighbor’s house and the challenges they faced as they did,” Brenda recalls.
Volunteer firehouses are crucial to the strength and vitality of rural and agricultural communities. According to the National Fire Department Registry, 69.8% of fire departments in the United States are considered volunteer fire departments, which means they primarily rely on grant funding and donations as well as volunteer firefighters to operate. These rural fire departments are vital for fire-related and agricultural emergencies, which Brenda has experienced firsthand.
“I unfortunately also know the heartache of losing neighboring farmers in silo accidents, machinery accidents and to dangerous gases,” Brenda shared. “I know it is so valuable for these local volunteer departments to have the tools needed to respond when the time comes. The equipment they have and care for are things I am passionate about supporting with the hope I never need them.”
Brenda’s passion for her community and the local fire department that protects it is what inspired her to use the Team Member Donation Match program to double the impact of her donation. Her donation and matching dollars went toward the purchase of additional equipment for the station’s firetruck. Brenda is confident that her contribution will help the fire department respond quickly in times of need.
“With the considerable number of silos, grain bins and large livestock facilities as well as homes in our community, this is an important asset to the Chickasaw Community Mutual Fire Company. Response times are so critical, and this will put a ladder truck within five minutes of my farm and many others instead of a fifteen-to-thirty-minute response time,” Brenda said.
Team members like Brenda, with their passion for rural communities and agriculture, bring the Team Member Donation program to life. We impact our communities not only through our daily work but also through volunteerism and contributions to organizations we care about.
