The Wardell Volunteer Fire Department is a member driven department in the rural southeast Missouri boot-heel region. We cover a large land area with mostly farmland and sparse establishments of homes that are mostly occupied with low-income families. You can learn more at our website, https://wardellfiredepartment.com .We are an approved 501(c)3 and operate almost entirely off of a budget made up of the proceeds from our annual Volunteer Dinner and Auction, which usually brings in about 350 people including all walks of life including about 150 children. This has allowed us to make payments on our station and the matches to our federal grants. Our next auction which will be held February 8, 2025 and will be our 34th annual auction and dinner.
Last year’s auction, allowed us to do some important things. I would like to take a moment to thank our repeat donors and let you know what your money was used for. We are currently in the process of procuring turn-out gear to continue a rolling replacement. We are have purchased and installed an automatic start generator for the station. We are also in the process of further updating our communications equipment. Updating the turn-out gear and communications equipment will take several years to complete.
Your company can help us by providing funds in the form of a grant or by donating goods and services to auction off. During the dinner, we run a slide show with all of our donors contact information and also give out an auction program that lists the name of the donating company. Many of the companies from out of town receive a few new customers for life out of the event. We will gladly send you a receipt, with our tax number for tax purposes, and a copy of our tax letter, if requested, on our form or yours. We understand that in today’s economy times are hard and I certainly understand if you have no budget available this year.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,         
Jason T. Ward
Fire Fighter & Training Officer