Five Niverville seniors made a special appearance at the Niverville fire hall on August 13 to thank local fire and emergency service volunteers for their commitment to the community. On behalf of the seniors’ lunch program, coordinator Susan Bergmann presented a cheque for $7,100 to assist the fire team in the purchase of a new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).
“On behalf of the seniors’ lunch program, we want to thank all of you for your service and dedication to our community,” Bergmann told the gathered volunteers. “This year we had a surplus and we were looking to donate the money within the community.”
To one firefighter’s surprise, a second cheque of $4,000 was presented to Lindsey Kehler to assist her through her first year of paramedic training. Kehler has been volunteering in Niverville for the past four years as a level-two firefighter and emergency medical responder.
“Paramedics is a full year of school and it’s more [about] medical training so I’ll be able to… help out with more medications and more responsibilities,” says Kehler. “I’ve been applying for bursaries through the college because it is quite a bit of money. I won’t be able to work during the year because it is such an intense program. It’s full days [of school] and then nights and weekends of studying and volunteering here… I’m very, very thankful and blessed [by this gift].”
The donation will take a big bite out of the $6,000 cost for tuition, books, and uniforms for Kehler. At the completion of her course, she hopes to land a job with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service or with Southern Health-Sante Sud.
She doesn’t anticipate giving up her volunteer services with the Niverville department, though, which is where she got her start.
The substantial donations made by the seniors’ lunch program committee were a result of the bittersweet ending of that weekly program in August of this year. Coordinators Fred and Susan Bergmann, and a good number of the volunteer committee, were already well into their golden years and the demands of the program became too much.
Deputy Fire Chief Brad Wasilinchuk gratefully accepted the committee’s donation on behalf of the fire department and hopes they can continue the collaboration they’ve had with these seniors over the past eight years, adding that this group has been integral in organizing and assisting in the fire department’s annual perogy supper fundraiser.
“It’s a great donation,” Wasilinchuk says. “They’ve been a great help to us… We’ve had a great relationship with them since 2011.”
