Jaycees Magazine, Fall 2004
Jaycees Embrace TI Fundraising
By Rebecca Scholer
The USJCs office has developed a new national program with Bullard, the leading manufacturer of thermal imagers (TIs) for the fire service. This partnership was born out of a success story with a TI campaign managed by the Jaycees in Riverside, Ohio. Firefighters there received two imagers with the help of the Jaycees, and they have now saved the lives of two citizens of that community. NVP Julie Denning says that involvement in this project has been an exceptionally positive experience, by giving the group a meaningful opportunity to serve while providing excellent local visibility for her chapter.
Anderson, South Carolina
Following the January Local Presidents Summit meeting in Tulsa, Chris Clark, President of the Anderson
Jaycees in South Carolina, made plans to launch an inSIGHT campaign in his community. “Lon Fox’s message
was inspiring. He not only talked about how thermal imagers could benefit the community, but he focused
on the benefits for local chapters recruiting members from local fire departments. He emphasized that this
type of campaign is a great way to reach people’s hearts, so we expect to get some good local media
attention for the fundraising effort and for our group.”
Three weeks after his return, Chris called Fire Chief Jack Abraham of the City of Anderson Fire Department. “I hadn’t met the chief before, and when I called him about the project, he was really excited. He commented on the difficulty of getting funding for the department, and he is definitely looking forward to working with us on this project. He offered as much PR help as we need.”
Munford, Alabama
Following the March convention in Tulsa, Tanya Thomas, Jaycees President for the State of Alabama, decided
to undertake a thermal imager campaign on behalf of two fire departments in her community: The Munford
Volunteer Fire Department and the Providence Volunteer Fire Department. Tanya, who is herself a volunteer
firefighter, works as Town Clerk for Munford.
“I met with Mayor Swinford, and he said the technology would be a blessing to our community,” she said. “I talked with the firefighters, and they were excited about having help from the Jaycees in getting the technology. They had been looking at different thermal imagers and looking for a way to get one for a while now, but they didn’t know how to go about it because they didn’t have the money.”
Tanya says thermal imagers are especially important to their community because of the large number of mobile homes in the area. “A couple years ago, a three year-old died in a mobile home fire in a rural area. Firefighters expected to find the boy in his bedroom, but he was in the kitchen. They tried to rescue him, but it was too late. The firefighters involved in that response were touched very deeply by the experience... The way we look at it, one life saved in our community would be worth anything we’d have to do to get the technology.”
Henrico County, Virginia
Hurricane Isabel was the driving force in getting the Tuckahoe Jaycees of Richmond, Virginia, involved in
Citizen Corps and the inSIGHT project. Chapter President Trish Tyler explained the motivation. "Our
community was completely ravaged by the hurricane in September," she said. "You sit around and think
a natural disaster will never hit you. It was a big wakeup call for us, helping us realize that we're
all prone to bad things happening. We needed to get involved."
Trish approached the January Local Presidents Summit meeting in Tulsa with an eye toward projects that could help first responders in her community. "When I heard about the thermal imager campaign, I came back to my chapter and said this would be perfect for us. Oddly enough, our members who were involved in the CERT training through Citizen's Corps had heard about the impact of thermal imagers at approximately the same time, so we were immediately on the same page... if we can save one life by purchasing a thermal imager, then our efforts will be well worth it. The bottom line is that we're trying to save lives and property. This is a new technology! It's exciting, and it can have a major impact."
The Tuckahoe Jaycees are in the process of planning a July Golf Tournament called "Fairways on Fire" for the Henrico County Fire Department, with the goal of purchasing one Bullard Thermal Imager. Chapter member and project founder Jason McLauchlan is the chair. The group is seeking at least 22 local corporate sponsors, as well as 32 teams of four to play 18 holes at the new Brickshire Country Club in Richmond. "We've always wanted to have a golf tournament," Trish said. "This is an opportunity to raise money for something different. The more good things we do to impact our community, the more people will know about us, and therefore want to be a part of us."
To Register
Jaycees chapters can receive free instruction and support for thermal imager campaigns from Bullard. To request your kit, call 877-BULLARD (877-285-5273), or download the registration form from www.thermalimager.com.Sidebar: If you’re considering a TI campaign…
As Jaycees consider promoting this TI fundraising program, here are some factors to think about:
- Thermal imagers can transform the work of firefighters by giving them vision to find victims, identify the source of the fire, and stay safe on the job. The Jaycees can be a leading force in equipping departments of the US.
- The need is great: Only an estimated 25% of US fire departments have thermal imagers. In nearly every case, funding is the barrier to getting equipped.
- TIs are easy to explain and justify, so large donations are usually quite possible to get, including those from local corporations, foundations and individual citizens.
- Strong media coverage is almost guaranteed, so involvement in this program has the potential to significantly raise the local profile of your chapter.
- Establishing partnerships with local fire departments meets Citizens Corps objectives for supporting first responders.
- Bullard offers professional assistance, both through materials and through individual phone consultations with campaign leaders.
Sidebar: Jaycees Direct Buy TI Program!
When Jaycees chapters are ready to make a thermal imager purchase, Bullard is offering a special exclusive direct-purchase program, which provides the following benefits:
- A special Jaycees Thermal Imager in a distinctive white housing, branded with a “Courtesy of Your Local Jaycees” logo, reminding firefighters and the community that your group made this important purchase.
- The opportunity to purchase thermal imagers directly from Bullard at substantially reduced prices not available to individual fire departments.
- Direct shipment to you for a presentation to the fire department in a public venue.
- Media materials that help members invite the media to cover the donation of the thermal imager to the department (available on Jaycees website).
