Brookville Fireman's Club makes yearly donations to local organizations

This year’s donations were as follows;

• $23,097 – Brookville Volunteer Fire Company
• $1,500 – Pinecreek Volunteer Fire Department
• $1,500 – Brookville Food Pantry
• $1,000 – Jefferson County Area Agency on Aging
• $1,000 – Western Pa Cares for Kids
• $1,000 – Rebecca M. Arthurs Memorial Library
• $500 – Brookville YMCA
• $500 – Jefferson County Fair
• $500 – Brookville Laurel FEstival
• $300 – Military Order of the Purple Heart
• $250 – Boys Scouts Troop #64
• $250 – Boy Scouts Troop # 67
• $200 – Watershed Journal
• $200 – Brookville High School Homecoming
• $4,000 – Brookville High School Scholarships – To be distributed in May.

The total amount raised and donated from the Brookville Fireman’s Club is $36,297.

“We tried to balance it out as best we could and get the ones who needed it the worst, more money,” said Dick Beck, treasurer. “It’s kind of hard to do, really figure it. There’s a lot of places that need it too that we don’t have the money to do it all.”

The trustees try to keep the money local, donating to organizations around the Brookville area. They are proud to be able to give the two $2,000 to seniors.

“We get like 20 some applications, the guidance board picks the top three, and the advisory board picks the recipient,” Pearsall said.

Typically, there is a presentation of the money near Christmas time. The club did not do it this year because of the pandemic. They are hoping to get back to doing the presentation next year. He said the shutdowns and restrictions were difficult over the last year.

“This money was made from the members, but our employees need a real thank you for the work they did and in putting up with all the things they had to work through. We have an outstanding group of employees,” Pearsall said.

He said if it wasn’t for the employees, they wouldn’t have been able to do it.

“It was a little rough here, but we survived. We’re able to make a little bit of money and put some money back in the business with our new sign,” Pearsall said.

The sign was part of the goals the trustees have been working on from three years ago. They wanted to pave the parking lot, get a sign, and put up a new fence along the sidewalk.

He also said the club is hoping to get some new members this year. He and Treasurer Dick Beck agreed that people stopped going out as often, but they are starting to see some of the memberships come back.

New members have to be sponsored by a current member of the club, a rule of the Liquor Control Board.

Thursday night there is cornhole games at the club, which Pearsall said is “getting to be a big thing.”

The club also lets the Jefferson County Relay for Life use their back room for Bingo on Tuesdays. The Relay raises money through the Bingo games, and the club gets any food sales.