Employees from Monsanto’s Farmer City production site selected Farmer City Fire Protection District to receive a $10,000 grant from the Monsanto Fund’s 2015 site grant initiative.
Funds from the grant will be used to upgrade equipment by purchasing new bottles for their Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses, which hold filtered, compressed air to help firefighters breathe in smoky or contaminated environments.
Rick Hardesty, Farmer City Fire Protection District assistant chief says the new equipment will improve the quality of rescue service they provide if extrication is needed
He calls the relationship they have with Monsanto "great", and says they have had many joint training opportunities with them, including extensive fire and rescue trainings.
Farmer City Fire Protection District has used previous grants from the Monsanto Fund to purchase many tools critical to their operations, such as high-angle rescue equipment.
Clint Rauch, Farmer City site lead says partnering with first-responder organizations is a great way to impact the entire community.
This year, the Monsanto Fund awarded more than $1.2 million to nonprofit organizations through the site grant initiative to help address essential needs in rural communities. Emergency response organizations across the country have received $3.4 million from the fund since 2010.
