Civitan Magazine, Fall 2003
Kingsport, Tennessee Civitan Club Raises Money for Five Thermal Imagers
By Jonathan Bastian
After a local house fire took the life of a two year-old child in Kingsport, Tennessee, the local Civitan
Club swung into action with a massive fundraising effort to equip firefighters with thermal imagers. Pastor Ron Lowe, the father of a Kingsport firefighter and Vice President of the Kingsport Civitan Club, offered to lead the fundraising effort.
“Some of us thought the camera would have made a difference in that incident,” Pastor Lowe said. “I talked to the Noon-Day Club, and they agreed that we should get involved. We met with the fire department and asked them what they needed, and they felt that each primary engine needed a thermal imager, for a total of seven.”
The fire department performed an official evaluation and selected Bullard based on durability, ease of use, and excellent service. With the support of Fire Chief Charles White, Kingsport Firefighter Association Vice-President Matthew Sorge and two other firefighters kicked off the campaign by delivering a speech at a Civitan Club meeting. 
Firefighter Sorge used the speech to add urgency to the campaign and helped convince members to invest time and money in the effort. “Working together, the Thermal Imaging Camera Committee wrote a two-page scenario and asked club members to imagine waking up to a house filled with smoke,” he said. “Then we took them through what happens with us from the time we are dispatched to the time we are on the scene in terms of victim recovery and finding the fire. That really brought the point home about the importance of thermal imaging and why people would want to give money. It put a different sense of urgency on the campaign.”
Fundraising Tactics
Jean Spencer, wife of the former mayor of Kingsport, purchased one thermal imager early in the campaign. After reading a newspaper article about the fundraising launch, she donated a thermal imager in her husband’s memory. Eastman Tennessee Chemical also donated one unit. Over the next year, the Civitan Club hosted a number of fundraising events that provided enough funding to purchase three and a half more units, including the following:
• Mall event – Pastor Lowe and his son Christopher, a firefighter, approached Kevin Harmon, Director of the Fort Henry Mall, to ask for fundraising help. Harmon offered a special Christmas shopping event on Dec. 9, 2001. The mall closed at its regular time of 5 p.m., then reopened from 6 to 10 p.m., with several stores holding special sales. Tickets to the shopping event were sold for $5 apiece, and visitors had the opportunity to win large door prizes that had been donated by local businesses. Firefighters and Civitan members were positioned at each entrance to welcome people to the event and to provide information about thermal imaging. The event, promoted strongly in local media, brought in thousands of people and raised $11,000.
• Horse shows – With revenues from admission, concessions and brochure sponsorships, a half-day show brought in $2,000, and a full-day show brought in $6,000.
• Church donations -- Pastor Lowe tapped into local congregations for their support, sending firefighters to make brief presentations about thermal imaging during Sunday services at several churches. They passed the plate for donations, raising a total of $3,500 during the course of the campaign.
• Buffet breakfast – Calvin Wright, a member of the Civitan Club, donated the use of his restaurant, Wright’s Country Cuisine, for a community buffet breakfast. Tickets were sold for $5, and the total raised was $1,200.
• Miscellaneous donations -- Businesses and local citizens donated a total of $7,500.
Throughout the campaign, the Civitan Club, the Kingsport Fire Department and the Firefighters Association worked closely with local media to promote the fundraiser through segments on local TV news shows, radio show promotions and several newspaper articles.
“There was a ton of publicity in the media. Every time a camera was presented, we did it as publicly as we could,” Pastor Lowe said. “That kept the enthusiasm up. This fundraiser became so popular in the community that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen came to us and said that they would support the purchase of the remaining units after our campaign came to a close. After 14 months of fundraisers and enough money for five and a half units, we turned it over to them.”
Club Benefits
Besides being a very successful and important fundraiser, the thermal imager campaign significantly raised the profile of the Civitan Club in Kingsport. “It looks well for your organization to be involved in such a visible effort,” Pastor Lowe emphasized. “It’s a very popular campaign. As thermal imagers were added to the trucks during the course of the campaign, our efforts became more prominent because the media was doing stories about how the technology was being used.”
Pastor Lowe continued, “Besides that, being involved in the thermal imager campaign makes you feel good. A lot of times, we don’t know where our money goes when we do fundraisers. There’s a very direct connection between thermal imaging and helping the community… I’m also able to speak as a father of a firefighter. I want firefighters to go home knowing that they’ve done their best and that they have the tools to help them stay out of a dangerous situation.”
Firefighter Sorge, speaking on behalf of the fire department and the Firefighters Association, expressed gratitude for the Civitan Club’s hard work. “Especially since Sept. 11, people use the word ‘hero’ with firefighters all the time. We do not see ourselves that way,” he said. “With this campaign we see the community and the Civitan Club as our heroes. We had a need, and they rose to the occasion to meet that need. They were absolutely instrumental. It was a lot of work for all of us, but it was absolutely worth it.”
Conclusion
Thermal imagers are infrared devices that give firefighters a “thermal picture” or a “heat picture” of a scene, enabling them to see through smoke to identify victims, pinpoint fires and see structural dangers before they put firefighters at risk. E.D. Bullard Company, the industry leader, has developed free fundraising instruction and support materials that will help departments and civic clubs plan and execute effective local thermal imaging fundraising campaigns. Both print and video resources are included in this free kit, which Civitan members can order by registering at www.thermalimager.com or calling toll-free 800-227-0423.