KUNKLETOWN, Pa. — The kitchen in Kunkletown Volunteer Fire Company was busy Sunday preparing food for their last breakfast fundraiser.
The fire company's monthly tradition is coming to an end after 30 years.
“Our numbers have dwindled, and there's an increase in food prices, and we just didn't get the participation back from our customers like we did before COVID,“ said Brian Stankovich, Kunkletown Fire Chief.
“We're kind of struggling, and it takes a lot of man hours to put it on, and it's hard to get people to help,” Ray Miller, Kunkletown Volunteer Firefighter, said.
Ray Miller and his wife have been volunteering with the breakfast for a decade. They say they always looked forward to it every month. But over the past year, the fundraiser has been hard to pull off.
“Years ago, food didn't cost this much. But now, with everything and prices through the roof, if we keep going, we'd have to raise our breakfast to $14 or $15,” Stankovich said.
Prices for breakfast food aren't the only things increasing. The price of running a fire company is too.
“Gear for a firefighter, to get them the pants and a coat and boots and a helmet, it's $5,000 to get them the gear to put the fire out,” added Stankovich, showing how crucial the breakfast fundraiser is to funding the firehouse.
“Unless you're involved with this or in the municipal government that's involved with a fire company because you support them, a lot of people don't know about the associated costs that go from this. You know we rely on fundraising and municipality help to buy this equipment,” explained Stankovich.
Currently, the Kunkletown Volunteer Fire Company is trying to raise enough money to replace their 20-year-old fire truck. You can find their other fundraiser opportunities on our website here.
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