TUALATIN VALLEY FIRE & RESCUE (TVF&R) in Aloha, Oregon, received the Fire Service Award for Excellence from the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) for its Community Assistance Trust program. The program allows firefighters to use money from a charitable trust to help citizens in need they encounter in the course of their work. Conceived by TVF&R Fire Chief Jeff Johnson in a previous assignment as community service director, the fund receives monies from community donations and employee payroll deductions. District firefighters are allowed to spend up to $100 to provide assistance beyond the scope of basic emergency response. Firefighters have used the fund to provide exterior handrails for an elderly couple, clean clothes for displaced fire victims with no insurance, and a night`s lodging for a single mother who was stranded when her car broke down.
