Farmington Fire Department gets full-time volunteers
FARMINGTON – Up to four full-time and ten part-time volunteers will be pitching in at public safety departments around Franklin County over the next year, thanks to a partnership between SAD 9’s Foster Tech and AmeriCorps.
This Tuesday, when Aaron Gordon of Chesterville and Abbie Davenport, both 19, of Farmington punch the clock at the Farmington Fire Department, they will become the first-ever AmeriCorps volunteers in the county.
AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engage more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. Comparable to a domestic PeaceCorps, recently, President George W. Bush asked AmeriCorps to expand its work in public safety, public health and disaster relief in order to assist in homeland security.
Recently, the organizations partnered up with Foster Regional Applied Technology Center to bring help to local public safety departments, many of which do not have the budgeting resources to provide the protection communities need.
Not only will Gordon and Davenport be the pioneers of the AmeriCorps program in the area, but they will be the first full-time workers, in addition to the department chief, on the roster at the FFD.
Among their duties will be equipment and vehicle maintenance and inspection, public education such as presentations at local schools and responding to calls.
In exchange for their volunteering, the two get a $10,200 living stipend, $5,000 towards their education, and health insurance. Plus, says Billye Senecal, the AmeriCorps worksite coordinator at Foster Tech, “It looks pretty darn good on a resume if you participate.”
In addition to the perks, for Gordon and Davenport, working full-time for a fire department is something that in the past, they would have had to go to a bigger municipality for, like Auburn or Portland. Now, they can do what they love at a local department they both say is like a second home.
“I do stuff here anyway,” Davenport said with a laugh. “Now I am just going to get paid for it. We are the first full-time firefighters in Farmington, so it’s going to be a good thing not just for us, but for the town. It’s great. Farmington is a good place. They make a lot of good stuff happen.”
The two aren’t worried that they’ll run out of tasks to keep them busy and Davenport says they may even prove that the department does need more full-time staff.
“Things don’t happen slowly here,” she explained, looking around the station. “It all happens at once and you have to make sure everything is up to par so you’re ready.”
Gordon thinks his stipend and education award is a fair deal and although he has yet to punch the clock at his new job, is already certain he will re-apply next year. “I want to do this as a career,” he says of firefighting. “This will be a full year on my resume. The big thing about this is experience. And helping out my community.”
Fired up
Senecal spoke with Foster Tech Firefighter 1 students on Friday morning, trying to get more students fired up about the AmeriCorps program.
In addition to the two full-timers at the FFD, she is currently going through applications to get two full-time EMTs working locally and soon hopes to get two 900-hour people working for the Wilton Fire Department in the next few weeks.
But, there are still eight spots available for quarter-time volunteers to work 300 or 450 hours at local fire departments and Senecal is looking for the student firefighters who make the most convincing case on what they plan to do to help out their community departments during those hours, which have to be used up by next summer.
For 300 hours, volunteers collect a $1,000 education award and for 450 hours, $1,250. They work at their hometown departments.
“This is something your parents would be thrilled about,” Senecal said during her pitch to get more people on board. “This will give you a view of what volunteering is like and what getting out in your community is like.”
‘Win-win’
Ann DeRaspe, Foster Tech’s director, calls it a win-win situation both for participants and their communities. Departments get an extra hand and students get on-site experience under the watchful eye of skilled mentors.
Applications close on Nov. 1. If the program is a success, Senecal is hopeful it will be renewed and even expanded. In the meantime, she hopes that local emergency services will be strengthened because students have additional motivation for volunteering – money towards college.
“It’s about fostering community awareness and community service,” she said of the program. “Everybody stands to benefit. It’s rewarding knowing you helped out and made a difference where you lived.”
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