MONTOURSVILLE, Pa. — Volunteer fire departments around the country have struggled to retain or recruit volunteers. Officials at the Willing Hand Hose Company in Montoursville are fortunate to have more than 30 active volunteers but say they have seen a slight decline.
"Over the years, Pennsylvania has been on a downhill as the whole national average has been with volunteer firefighters," said Jeffrey Kukuchka, the president of Willing Hand Hose Company.
The department recently received a federal grant of $381,000. This money will be used to help encourage residents and area college kids to volunteer.
"With these new funds, we will be able to offer a stipend program," Kukucka said. "So, that stipend program will be a point system. It will reward our current and future volunteers based on number of calls they are responding to, trainings participated in, and hours staffed in station."
Ryan Koubeck is a junior at Penn College and has been volunteering at the station since August. This summer, he will start receiving a stipend for his services.
"A lot of us joined for the love of volunteering and helping people in the community, but obviously, college is getting more and more expensive, and the college is growing every day, and hopefully, the stipends draw more people to want to do this," said Koubeck.
"A student that would be going to school beginning this fall and be a member of our organization and meet certain requirements will have the ability to earn up to $10,000 in tuition assistance over their four years in college," added Kukuchka.
The stipend program is not just for college students; it is for anyone in the community. In addition, all new recruits will get new gear.
"There's funds in there for each new recruit that comes in, we are able to order the custom-fit PPE for that individual," Kukuchka said.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel.