| The Spring 2008 Newsletter of Sadsbury Township was recently released and an informative letter from the Sadsburyville Fire Company was published in it. The letter reads as the following:
The Sadsburyville Fire Company is proud to serve and protect the citizens of Sadsbury Township and surrounding communities. Organized in 1918, the Sadsburyville Fire Company is established as a non-profit organization under federal and Pennsylvania law. Our sole firehouse is located on First Avenue in the village of Sadsburyville, immediately south of busy Lincoln Highway.
Since its inception, the Sadsburyville Fire Company has relied solely on volunteers for all aspects of our service. These dedicated men and women presently respond to 500 calls for service annually, the majority of which being medical emergencies. Our volunteers also play key roles in fundraising for our department. One can regularly find them conducting boot drives within the community or helping out at our weekly bingo. The monies collected from these activities provide us with the majority of our annual operations budget.
Unfortunately, the money raised from these activities alone is nowhere near the total amount needed to fund our organization. As a result we look to you, the residents of our community to assist us in our time of financial need. The Sadsburyville Fire Company conducts an annual fund drive mailing for which only 22% of the community responds to. While we are most grateful to those who have donated, the response rate has been well below average compared to our neighboring communities. If every township resident donated just a few dollars each year in response to our mailing, the end results would be astounding! Although the Township of Sadsbury provides us with a generous contribution each year, there are no taxes established for the purpose of fire protection at present time.
Your donations are critical in allowing us to purchase various items needed for your protection in this rapidly growing township. While the buildings are getting higher and the developments getting larger, the fire company has remained stagnant. Through sufficient funding we need to keep pace with the growth of our community and replace or purchase items such as fire hose, self contained breathing apparatus, personal protective firefighting gear and fire apparatus. We are both proud yet humbled to admit that the Sadsburyville Fire Company responds with the oldest active fire engine in Chester County.
At present time the volunteers who serve our fire company number approximately fifteen, however we continue to seek out additional volunteers and invite all residents to consider becoming a member of their local fire company. Volunteering your time does not necessarily mean you have to fight fires. Other areas of interest include providing care to the sick and injured with our medical response unit, joining the township fire police, helping out with fundraising - especially at our weekly bingo and other administrative tasks. The only rewards for your time will be a newly found camaraderie with a group of great people and the gaining of personal satisfaction knowing that you're making a difference in your community.
We encourage all residents to access our website on a regular basis, the address is www.sfc31.com. On this website are membership applications, contact information, a calendar of events, general safety information and a listing of recent incidents that we have been involved with. We also invite you to support our weekly bingo, held every Thursday at 6:30 PM. On a final note, as we ready ourselves to "spring ahead," don't forget to change your smoke detector batteries when you change your clocks. If we can be of assistance at any time, please do not hesitate to contact the firehouse to speak with an officer of the company. |
