MILANO, Texas (KRHD) — The Milano Volunteer Fire Department Ladies' Auxiliary group raised over $46,000 to buy a new fire truck in just a year.
- The Milano Volunteer Fire Department Ladies' Auxiliary is a group of women dedicated to raising money and helping out the department behind the scenes.
- The group hosted its annual garage sale in the fall and spring, raising enough money to buy a 2017 Dodge fire truck.
- The truck replaces its 2004 Chevrolet truck, equipped with upgraded lighting, more storage, a battery charging system and a 300-gallon water tank.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"They're just a little, you know, extension of the department," Milano Volunteer Fire Department Chief Kain Dodd said.
Kayla Yakesch and Doris Mayer are the force behind the power of the Milano Volunteer Fire Department.
"We try to do anything we can to help them out," Yakesch said.
They work behind the scenes as members of the Ladies' Auxiliary group.
Now, it's paying off with a new fire truck after raising the money to buy it in just a year.
"We are grateful for it to be able to cover and for them to get this truck," Yakesch said.
But it's not always easy.
Rural departments typically struggle with funding new equipment, especially trucks that start at $15,000 dollars.
So how'd they do it?
"The Ladies' Auxiliary collects garage sale items and we price them and separate them and clean them and have a big garage sale twice a year so that we can buy things for the fire department," Mayer said.
Raising about $46,000 to purchase a 2017 Dodge truck.
Fire Chief Kain Dodd says it replaces it's old 2004 truck.
"The emergency lights on it were getting really old. The transmission was starting to slip. The front end was wore out because it was our first out truck that goes to everything," Dodd said.
Now, it has new safety features like extendable lighting, more compartments for tools and a 300-gallon water tank.
"This gives us the ability to have both of those capabilities at once to be able to extricate a patient and put out an engine compartment fire," Dodd said.
But the ladies tells me the group means more than just providing equipment.
"We're a big family and how I look at it as we are doing all this to raise the money for the fire department, but it's all for our community," Yakesch said.
