Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry announced a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant of $29,173 to a local fire department in the Tenth Congressional District.

The grant will go to the Brendletown Volunteer Fire Department in Burke 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 Brendletown VFD’s second straight year in receiving an AFG Grant.  Last September, Congressman McHenry visited Brendletown VFD to present a check for the last year’s AFG Grant.  “I was grateful for the opportunity to visit with the Brendletown firefighters and their families at a car show and concert they had organized.  I am very pleased to see they were successful in earning federal grant again this year.”

“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.”

Brendletown 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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