On Friday July 10, 2015 the Modena Fire Company received notification from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that we were selected to receive yet another Federal Grant under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.

The grant, in the amount of $93,500.00, will allow the Fire Company to purchase/replace 17 old and outdated self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Our grant writer, John Sly, applied for this grant back when the application process began last year and we have been anxiously awaited this notification.

The Fire Company also has to provide a 5% matching funds portion of the grant, which is $4,452.00. We will then receive a Federal Share of $89,048.00.

This grant will help us gain another basic tool to assist us in doing our jobs that we previously could not have done without this Federal Assistance. This award marks the seventh Federal grant we have received since 2005, with funding assistance totaling more than $385,000.

In FY2014, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security received 9,995 applications for assistance in this grant program. The total amount requested was more than 2 billion dollars, however only $288 million is available in the program. Due to the lack of funding for each application, the awards are selected by a competitive award process. Approximately 20%, or roughly 2,000 applications out of the 9,995 received will receive funding assistance. The remainder will be denied for this year. We are once again fortunate enough to be one of those selected.

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program is administered by the department's Directorate for Preparedness through its Office of Grants and Training in cooperation with the United States Fire Administration, also a division of the Preparedness Directorate.

We would like to thank all those involved in this program and Grant Writer John Sly for the assistance that he provided with this grant.

John Sly Grant Writing is a consulting firm based in Chester County, Pennsylvania which specializes in funding solutions for emergency services agencies. Since 2001, John Sly Grant Writing has assisted more than 200 organizations with obtaining more than 16 million dollars in critical funding to aid in public safety.