MILANO, Texas — When Sherri Emory got a call that her mother was having health problems, she immediately felt anxious.
She lives almost two hours away and had no way to get to her in time.
"I get a phone call from my family saying you know 'Hey, we had to make a phone call to take mom in and get her looked at,'" Emory said. "You just wait for those phone calls to make sure she’s okay."
But the Milano Volunteer Fire Department was ready to help her mother, and it's not the only time they've been there for her.
Now, Emory is taking every chance she can to support the department.
This time she's attending the Milano Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxillary garage sale to help the department raise money.
"This is the first one have been to. I've been trying to get out here for several years, so it just worked that this is the first time, and my mom is on the auxillary here," Emory said. "I just love to garage sale. I love to junk."
Thurla Hubert, president of the group, said they host the event twice every year — in the fall and spring.
"We've got husbands in there. We've got nephews in there. We've got friends' kids in there and lots of volunteers," Hubert said.
According to Fire Chief Kain Dodd, the department relies on donations to run the department and buy new equipment.
The department receives a $15,000 donation from Milam County as part of a grant, but gets most of the money through events like dinners and raffles, which raise a total of $30,000.
But it takes about $60,000 to run the department, which includes paying items like the electricity bill, and Dodd said they never have excess funding.
The money goes toward upgrading trucks and equipment.
Dodd said the department is hoping to upgrade it's oldest truck from 1986, which would cost about $240,000.
With help from the Texas A&M Forest Services, the department would only have to pay 10% of that amount.
Right now, the plan is to use the funding raised from the sale to finish paying off loans on the building, land and its newest fire engine.
Hubert said they make at least $20,000 from the sale.
"I know that what they get from us they can do with any way they want to except party," she said.
While Emory isn't fully funding that $20,000 herself, she's buying a few things she can use at home, and she's happy to spend what she can to help benefit the firefighters who helped her mother.
"This helps support the community by funding it. The ladies are able to buy equipment for the firemen that they may not have been able to get otherwise and it’s just a great way to recycle items instead of going out and buying new," Emory said.
The department will host the sale Friday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Milano Fire Station.