24 Apr 2024
It’s National Volunteer Week, and the NVFC extends their thanks to all of the volunteer firefighters, EMS providers, rescue workers, and support personnel, who make the communities better every day.
This is a great week to recognize the work of the volunteers in the department, as well as plan initiatives for supporting the membership and recruiting more volunteers.
Here are some resources to help:
- National Volunteer Week – 10 Ways to Recognize & Retain the Volunteers – Watch this recorded NVFC Roundtable Talk to get ideas for recognizing the department’s volunteers and enhancing volunteer retention during National Volunteer Week and beyond.
- Make Me A Firefighter Department Portal – Register for free to access this portal to help with volunteer recruitment. Post the department’s volunteer opportunities, create customized outreach materials, access ready-to-use PSAs, plan the next recruitment event, and more.
- NVFC Membership – For just $21 per year, NVFC members get a plethora of benefits, including an AD&D policy, access to the First Responder Helpline, all training free in the Virtual Classroom, the Volunteer Voices members forum, and much more. Departments can show their appreciation for their members by purchasing memberships for their personnel so they have access to all of the benefits.
- Recognition Ideas – This list of recognition ideas from the Fire Corps program can help to thank their operational and non-operational volunteers.
- Psychologically Healthy Fire Departments – This toolkit and training will guide them through ways to better support the personnel and create a healthy, successful workforce. They can also pledge their commitment to have the department added to the national webpage.
- President’s Volunteer Service Award – This national award provides an opportunity to honor outstanding volunteers and recognize the impact they make.