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Library employee secures funds for fire company
Earlier this year, Eichinger applied for a grant from the federal Department of Homeland Security. At the celebration, the fire company’s president presented Eichinger with a giant check for $108,900--the company had been awarded the grant that they plan to use to expand the area that fire company serves. They were awarded money to, among other things, purchase 22 new portable radios and upgrade 35 self-contained breathing devices. Eichinger has volunteered with the all-volunteer West Grove Fire Company for eight years and has been the fire company’s secretary for the past three years. Eichenger said that she has been a volunteer all of her life, from candy striping to being a den mother. Volunteering is “something you have to want to do, because you give a lot of time,” she said. Now that her children are grown (one of her sons is a firefighter and EMT for Aetna Hose, Hook and Ladder in Newark), she and her husband, a fellow West Grove volunteer, have more time for volunteering. Applying for grants can be time-consuming and difficult, Eichinger said. For the Department of Homeland Security grant, she needed three weeks to get the grant proposal and to do research. She also attended a workshop, where she was instructed on what to do and what not to write. Eichinger said that the Internet was useful and that she got help from people in the firehouse. Besides the federal grant, West Grove’s fire company has been awarded $11,650 by the state of Pennsylvania to purchase new equipment and repair their existing equipment. Eichinger does not plan to stop there, though. She has already applied for a national grant, entitled “Do Something for Your Community,” that targets seniors, low-income families and Spanish-speaking areas. Article by Emily Longwell-Grice, AS ’05 To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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