Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry announced a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant of $35,268 to a local fire department in the Tenth Congressional District.

The grant will go to the Hugh’s Pond Volunteer Fire Department in Gaston County, and comes in the fifteenth round of this year’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG), which aims to help firefighters and first responders throughout the country.  Local departments applied for the grants, and the program is administered by the Department’s Preparedness Directorate’s Office of Grants and Training. 

This is Hugh’s Pond VFD’s second straight year in receiving an AFG Grant and its third in the last four years.  Last November, Congressman McHenry visited Hugh’s Pond VFD to present a check for last year’s AFG Grant.  “The firefighters of Hugh’s Pond serve an area just outside of my hometown of Cherryville and also provide assistance in southern Lincoln County.  I was grateful for the opportunity to visit with the firefighters and their families and could not be happier that Hugh’s Pond was successful in earning another federal grant.”

“With today’s tough economy, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program is absolutely crucial, especially for volunteer departments,” stated Congressman McHenry.  “Barbeques and fundraisers simply aren’t sufficient to cover the costs of the advanced equipment necessary to protect our fire service personnel.  It has been my honor to work closely with fire, rescue and other emergency service providers to help them get the resources they need to protect our communities.”

Hugh’s Pond VFD was one of four departments in the Tenth Congressional District to receive AFG funding in the fifteenth round of this year’s grant cycle. 

Last fiscal year, twenty-eight departments in the Tenth Congressional District received AFG funding for a total of $3,138,123 in funds disbursed.  Thus far in this year’s fiscal cycle, $743,690 has been awarded to thirteen departments in the Tenth District.

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