Volunteer fire service to be part of President`s Summit for America`s Future
Fred G. Allinson, chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), represented the volunteer fire service at the President`s Summit for America`s Future in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in April. The NVFC was one of many corporations and organizations that committed to the multiyear campaign aimed at helping America`s youth and strengthening the nation`s spirit of volunteerism. General Colin Powell was general chairman of the Summit.
“This is our opportunity to make the Clinton Administration and the rest of the nation aware of the important role that the volunteer fire service must play in this volunteerism movement,” explains Allinson. “The volunteer fire service has suffered tremendously from a lack of interest in volunteerism and therefore has a lot to gain from a renewed national sense of obligation. The NVFC is attending this Summit to ensure that volunteer firefighting is recognized as a premier opportunity to give back to your community.”
The NVFC is committed to increasing the ranks of the volunteer fire service in America from the current 840,000 to one million by the year 2000. It plans to accomplish this objective through recruitment projects now underway and by establishing a nationwide toll-free “hotline” (1-800) FIRE-LINE, from which callers can obtain information on how and where they can become involved in their local volunteer emergency department. The hotline, pioneered by Edward Cohn, chairman of the New Jersey State Committee for the Recruitment and Retention for Volunteer Emergency Service program, is in operation in several northeastern states. Work is underway to have the line become a nationwide resource.
The NVFC will work with the VFIS (Volunteer Firemen`s Insurance Services) and the Boy Scouts of America to provide volunteer fire departments with the information needed to establish junior programs, such as a high school cadet program or an Explorer Post through the Boy Scouts of America. The goal is to establish at least 10,000 junior emergency service programs throughout the United States by the year 2000.
For information on how to establish a Boy Scout Explorer Post in your department, contact the NVFC National Office at (1-888) ASK-NVFC (275-6832) or visit its home page at http://www.nvfc.org.
