Villisca Lions Club makes a special local donation

The Villisca Lions Club provided a big financial boost to the Villisca Volunteer Fire Department.
Last month, Villisca Lions Club President Lee Haidsiak and Treasurer Dennis Means presented a $1,150 check to Villisca fire chief Dave Riggle for an equipment purchase. Haidsiak said the money raised was from one of the club’s special fundraising events.
“The funds were raised from our annual fall craft show. We set it up, and all the proceeds went to the helmet purchase, which included the admission fee, and we had a jar there where people also made donations. We also raised money from the rental fees for the spaces and we had a small concession stand and collected money from there that contributed to this donation,” Haidsiak said.
Haidsiak described the process the club used to select the fire department as a recipient for these donated funds.
“Myself and the other members of the club always look around for local projects we can raise money for. I heard this summer that the fire department was trying to purchase new helmets, as the helmets they were currently using were outdated. I brought up the fire department as a potential recipient at one of our meetings and the other members felt they were a good choice to contribute the money to from our fundraiser last year,” advised Haidsiak.
With the fire department being made up of volunteers and not having a lot of money to go around, Riggle said donations like the one they received from the Lions Club were extremely beneficial.
“Without contributions like this, it wouldn’t be possible to replace all the helmets that we need to. We definitely needed all the donations we can get, because each helmet was $550 and we have 28 people on our department, so that adds up quite a bit,” explained Riggle. “Our helmets were 12 years old and we’re supposed to replace them every 10 years. We were behind the eight ball for a while. With this donation and some other grants we got, we can get those necessary helmets replaced, so this really helps us out, and we appreciate everything the Lions did for us.”
Riggle added that being able to switch out the helmets is a big deal to improve the safety factor for his volunteers.  
“It’s very important. Our insurance provider says we have to do this stuff. When you figure in our bunker gear and all that other equipment, it takes quite a big chunk of money to keep up with all the replacements we need to make,” stated Riggle.
As for the donation itself, Riggle admitted he was caught off guard that the Lions Club had chosen the department as a recipient, and he was surprised and appreciative of the donation, as he felt it was important for communities like Villisca to maintain its own fire department.
“It’s a big deal, especially now that we have a system for mutual aid. There’s a few of us in town that can respond fast, and we do. Like the Lions Club, our department also gets a lot of community support. We have a pork chop supper in April that we get real good turnout for. That money helps update our equipment. We also have a new truck coming around July, and we’re still working on paying that off,” explained Riggle.
Means said that as a resident of Villisca, having a local department helped give him peace of mind.
“They’ve been out to my place. We had a renter that liked to burn the trash barrel, and it is nice to have them show up in five or six minutes instead of half an hour. It’s nice to have them close when you have brush fires or something. Our combine started a fire once, and their response is a lot faster than waiting for firefighters from a neighboring community. With the wind blowing, it could have gotten bad, but they got to where it was quickly and kept the fire small until they could put it out,” stated Means.
Haidsiak said the Villisca Lions Club has a long history of doing special events to benefit people in the community.
“We chartered in 1987, so we’re getting up there a few years. We have a very active club, despite it being one of the smaller clubs. We’ve got 10 to 12 active members and about eight to 10 others that support us. When we do our semi-annual hot beef fundraiser, we have several people that volunteer that aren’t officially members of the club, but that come and help us,” Haidsiak said. “Likewise, we sponsor the city-wide cleanup every year. The city is great about helping us. Poor Boyz Sanitation is a valuable partner in that, and then we get some volunteers tell us that they’ll help us and drive the streets and pick stuff up. We have a lot of little projects that we donate to.”
Despite the smaller numbers, Haidsiak said it’s a point of pride that the Villisca Lions Club has been going strong for nearly four decades.
“It means a lot to us, and we couldn’t do it without the support of the community. The community is very good about supporting our fundraisers like the craft show as well as the other fundraisers we do throughout the year,” Haidisak advised.
Haidsiak also said they’re going to be holding a special fundraiser Feb. 9 during an upcoming sporting event.
“Red Oak comes to Southwest Valley to play basketball on that night. The Lions always promote collecting hearing aids and eye glasses, and we are also coordinating a collection of lightly used shoes, boots, or any other type of footwear. On the night of that game, we will have a table set up, and anyone from either community that is attending the game are welcome to bring gently used eyeglasses or hearing aids or footwear that they no longer use. Those items will be donated to low-income areas and be recycled rather than being thrown away at a landfill,” Haidsiak said.