West Central Initiative Awards $21,000 to Local Fire Departments  

West Central Initiative awarded $1,000 grants to 21 fire departments in west central Minnesota. Most of the grant funds came from the Philanthropic Preparedness, Resiliency and Emergency Partnership (PPREP) Community Foundation Disaster Response Fund, a project of The Funders Network, to help communities prepare for and recover from disaster.  

“For the second year, we’re distributing The Funders Network grants to fire departments in our region that serve communities and townships with fewer than 600 residents,” said West Central Initiative’s Director of Development Rebecca Lynn Petersen. “These volunteer departments play a critical role in emergency response in our rural communities.” 

Grant Recipients 

• Ashby Fire Department 
• Audubon Fire Department 
• Barrett Fire Department 
• Brandon Fire Department 
• Browns Valley Fire Department 
• Carlos Fire Department 
• Chokio Fire Department 
• Cyrus Fire Department 
• Deer Creek Fire Department 
• Donnelly Fire Department 
• Garfield Fire Department 
• Herman Fire Department 
• Kensington Fire Department 
• Leaf Valley Township Fire Department 
• Lowry Fire Department 
• Miltona Fire Department 
• Rothsay Fire Department 
• Ulen Fire Department 
• Underwood Fire Department 
• Vergas Fire Department 
• Villard Fire Department 

Support Your Local Fire Department 

In addition to balancing the financial needs of rural fire departments, recruiting and retaining volunteers is a pressing priority. “Within the fire service, we’re seeing a declining number of volunteers,” said Dave Coufal, Fire Chief of the Lake Park Fire Department and President of the Northwest Region of the Minnesota State Fire Department Association. He highlights the crucial need for volunteers in many rural departments and stresses that firefighters come from diverse backgrounds and experiences. “The only thing that sets us apart from everyone else is we understand if we’re not there, no one’s going to respond.”