NVFC and Partners Award Over $2 Million in Grants, Giveaways, and Scholarships in 2024

January 21, 2025

The NVFC and our partners are proud to support the nation’s volunteer fire and emergency services through special grant, giveaway, and scholarship opportunities each year. In 2024, these programs equaled more than $2 million to increase department and responder readiness, safety, health, and knowledge. Watch this video for a quick recap and read below for details. Stay tuned here for 2025 opportunities. Thank you to all of our partners!

Please note, some of these opportunities were available to NVFC members only. Not a member? Join for just $24 to be eligible for 2025 members-only opportunities. Interested in getting tips for crafting an NVFC grant or giveaway application? Check out this webinar.

Anheuser-Busch Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters Program: Anheuser-Busch donated more than 1.5 million cans of emergency drinking water to more than 630 volunteer fire departments across 44 states to ensure local first responders are prepared with critical hydration during wildfire response and other emergencies.

CHEMTREC® HELP (Hazmat Emergencies Local Preparedness) Awards: CHEMTREC and its partners the American Chemistry Council, Dow, and LyondellBasell awarded $60,000 in grants ($10,000 grants to six volunteer fire departments) to bolster hazardous materials incident response capabilities and preparedness. Applicant or department chief had to be an NVFC member.

Columbia Southern University (CSU) Scholarships: Two NVFC members were each awarded a scholarship covering up to 60 credit hours towards one online CSU degree program.

DripDrop Hydration Giveaway: DripDrop Hydration PBC donated a total of 200,000 sticks of electrolyte drink mix to 1,000 volunteer fire departments (200 sticks per department) to provide dehydration relief for firefighters battling wildfire and other long incidents.

First Alert Smoke Alarm Donation: First Alert donated 250 Precision Detection™ smoke alarms to volunteer fire departments in conjunction with a new course, UL 217 Smoke Alarm Standards, released by the NVFC in partnership with First Alert. The first 500 registrants were also able to take the new course for free, thanks to First Alert.

MSA and DuPont’s Globe Gear Giveaway: MSA and DuPont awarded a total of 52 sets of turnout gear and 52 helmets to 13 volunteer or mostly volunteer departments in need (four sets of gear and helmets per department). The applicant or department chief had to be an NVFC member; MSA sponsored NVFC memberships for the first 500 applicants to help them meet this requirement.

MSA Cairns® 1836 Fire Helmet Giveaway: MSA gave away four Cairns® 1836 Fire Helmets to NVFC members.

NVFC Volunteer Firefighter Support Fund: The NVFC provided $13,650 in disaster relief stipends to 39 volunteer firefighters ($350 each) to help them meet basic needs in the aftermath of a home fire or large-scale disaster. This Fund is made possible thanks to donations from individuals and companies, with 100% of donations going to responders in need.

Nutella Stacks for Giving Back: Nutella awarded $25,000 in grants ($5,000 grants to five departments) to help volunteer fire departments purchase needed equipment and resources. The applicant or department chief had to be an NVFC member. In addition, Nutella donated 100 pancake breakfast kits to assist volunteer departments with fundraising events.

State Farm® Good Neighbor Firefighter Safety Program: State Farm® awarded $1 million in grants to volunteer fire departments to help them purchase needed equipment ($10,000 grants to 100 departments). State Farm® also provided the 500 applicants with NVFC memberships.

Training Summit Travel Stipends: Thanks to grants from FEMA, the NVFC was able to award 43 members with a stipend of up to $800 to help them attend the 2024 NVFC Training Summit.