Starting a Ladies Aux. in Lyon Twp., MI

[trulyliv33]

Hello!

My name is Anne and my Boyfriend, Tim Blackwood is the Fire Inspector for Lyon Twp. Fire Department in MI.

I am very interested in starting a Ladies Auxilary for this department, but am not sure what the proper channels to follow are. If someone could give me some advise in this matter, it would be greatly appreciated!

I was considering contacting the Chief's and Assistant Chief's wives regarding thier possible interest in founding the group as it seemed appropriate. Please let me know what i should do to get things started. Thanks so much!

Sincerely,
Ms. Anne H. Danjin :)

[1391wife]

Hi Anne,

Have you subscribed to the Ladies Auxiliary Yahoo Group?? It is a great resource. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LadiesAuxiliary/

I too am in the beginning stages of starting an Auxiliary in Michigan. You will need to invite all of the wives/significant others to a meeting to discuss exactally what you want to do. You can also open it up to community members or retired fire fighters if you want. You will need to draft your by-laws. (The Yahoo group has some that you can look at to get started) Depending on how it is set up within the department, you may need to apply for tax-exempt status. Your best bet would be to subscribe to the group and start reading!! You can post your questions there and will get good advice back!

I would be happy to share what I have found with you also.

Tina

[BrooklynFire]

I think it's great you want to start an Auxiliary. Our Auxiliary is a great help to us and without them I know we'd be lost. They do a considerable amount of fundraising for us and are always there when we need them. Auxiliaries are always a great asset to any department.
However, just a point of advice, consider calling it just an Auxiliary instead of the old fashioned "Ladies Auxiliary". About 2 years ago we changed the title of our Ladies Auxiliary to the "Fire Dept Auxiliary". We found there were many guys who wished to help with the department, but couldn't full fill the tasks as a firefighter, who wanted to join. But alas they couldn't, or felt like they couldn't, because it was called a Ladies Auxiliary. Now we have a strong group of 15, both women and men, in our Auxiliary.
I hope your determination to start an Auxiliary in your area is a success.

[NCRSQ751]

Not that the name is a big deal, but you might even consider calling yourselves the support or logistics division. We have such a division in my squad and it allows for members that not only do traditional auxiliary tasks, but engineers, plumbers, people to service equipment or do fund raising and clerical work that would otherwise not want to do firefighting or traditional tasks.

It allows for a broader array of people to join.

[RMcNye]

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but...

Good idea! We currently have a few people who help us out (mechanics, explorers and their parents, and a developmentally delayed person who does a work-training kind of thing with us), and it would be nice to have a sort of official category for them. Right now, we only have the members -- active personnel -- and Firefighters' Auxiliary, so I'm not sure where it should go.

But I definitely think it would be a good way to attract more volunteers -- there are people who are great at grant writing, logistics, fundraising, and all that other good stuff, but don't want to respond to calls. I'd like to see a place for them in departments -- a "non-responding member" sort of thing.

[rocket6158]

Hi I am 14 and a member of the Garden City Fire Dept. I am a jounior member First I would contact the Chief just to let him know what you want to do. Then I would ask him to bring it up at the next Fire Concil or Commitee MTG.
,JrGCFD
Fire Rescue Co.

[fflady]

Wow!
I was really disappointed to see that the Ladies Auxiliary Yahoo Group has been taken over with a bunch of sex talk. There's nothing wrong with sex! It's just not what I was expecting when I raced to see the group :-)

I'm new to the firefighting culture. My partner is a firefighter in Mill Bay on Vancouver Island, Canada. I believe that part of my job in the relationship is to be supportive of him as he is of me and my efforts.

Can anyone recommend a currently active group for partners online?

Much thanks,
Susan

[engine23ccvfd]

Sex and FF's imagine that :)

Just teasing. We also recently started a Community Support Group. There are many members of the community who are willing to help out but do not necessarily have an interest in FF. As our program is just beginning it is a couple of wives right now, we will let them get trained, work out the kinks, and then start a drive to get members in the community to join.

Good Luck

Andy

PS Great Pic lovely eyes

[dallstaedt]

Anne,
I just returned to Tennessee from Michigan today (Monday, August 18th) after seeing my friends and family. The "blackout" was and experience!
I retired from the Lincoln Park (Michigan) Fire Department a few years ago and I am currently Fire Chief in a resort community (Fairfield Glade) in Cumberland County. We started a Ladies Auxiliary about three years ago to help us with our fund raising. The main reason we started the "Ladies" Auxiliary was because of the reduction in manpower (that was forced upon us) didn't leave us with enough fund raising help. We still have a few men that are auxiliary members too, but we still call them "Fire Department Auxiliary Members". I don't feel the "Ladies" need to be called any other type of "Auxiliary" name (just my opinion). Ladies "are" Ladies and we are proud of what they do for us! We purchased nice tee shirts and golf-type shirts for them to wear during fund raising (or any time) events. The only thing we had to do was to have them sign a release if they got injuried during one of our functions.

Dave

[jhstraus]

Here is a web Site that can possibly Help, For those starting a Ladies Auxiliary. We have a few Fundraisers we Do Listed. including Selling Cookbooks and Calenders. We also Have a Halloween Dance that raises a lot of money.
I will be adding more to the Site as time goes on. I will be adding a Water Brigade Linc discusing how and why. If you have a web Site E-mail me and I can add it to my Links page. Or for any information on fundraisers.
Thanks Heather cvfdla13@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/cvfdla13/