We are going to get our
Fire and Tornado Safety Trailer. The order has been placed with the
manufacturer. The money, around $100,000 is collected and ready for payment in
full. This is a big deal. If you (for some unknown reason) are clueless, let me
catch you up to speed. This has been a year and a half in the works. At one
time our Grove Fire Department owned a little trailer that they took to schools
and events to educate children on fire safety. It filled with “smoke” and
children of all ages took away life saving skills. The firefighters literally
wore the trailer out. It needed replaced. So a small team of movers and shakers
started in with fundraising. We worked with professional photographer RC
Livesay to produce a Fire Fighters Calendar. Chris Lietzke wrote grants and gently
twisted arms, Sandy Coaly organized a “Fill the Fireman Boot with Change”
drive, Sharon Lebow threw a community wide pancake party, Pam Sitton was supply
and demand of calendar sales. I got in front of
every group or individual that would listen to our dream.
One of those groups I had the honor to address was the
Grove High School C.O.W. organization. An acronym for Changing Our World (COW),
the goal of these ambitious 9th-12th graders is to raise
funds for a community project that will create change. (aren’t you already
loving this?) This year the group of 27 selected our trailer, the fire and
tornado classroom on wheels, knowing that educating a child means educating a
family.
It was quite an
ambitious monetary goal and our small group was about half way there. The C.O.W
kids jumped in and over. As the picture in the paper showed, $48,323 was
revealed at the final assembly. These kids were more than amazing. Mrs.
Donnetta Kerr, their sponsor, helped
with the planning, but the students did the work. 5K runs, T-shirt sales, Donkey Basketball
games, a pageant, a dog show, a fashion
show, a talent show, dances and crazy
student activities to generate funds. The C.O.W. kids saddled up and ran the
show. As I worked, volunteered and watched with them, they were more than I
ever dreamed. They were organized. They were kind. They were encouraging. They
were mature. They were successful. They
did it. The C.O.W. kids put us over the
moon.
Not only will our
community and four state area benefit from the trailer and what it will do for
safety education, our world will benefit from having outstanding young adults
as our future leaders. We couldn’t be anymore happy and proud of this project.
This is good news for all of us.
Thank you to all that
helped, big and small, we did it. Together as a community. Good News, soak it
in.
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