The Leechburg Volunteer Fire Company is planning a summer full of events to raise money to support its operations.

The fire department hosted two Rally on the River food truck events in 2020 as it grappled with the challenge of fundraising during the pandemic, when most in-person events were off limits. After those events brought in about $12,000 combined for the fire company, volunteers at the company decided to hold the event once a month beginning in April and lasting until September.

“It was a huge success, and everybody seemed to enjoy it, so now we’re going to be doing it on a monthly basis,” said Kari Kubla, a volunteer and trustee with the fire department who is organizing the events, along with another volunteer/trustee, Melissa Aller-Tantlinger.

Each event will include food trucks, craft vendors, a DJ and a variety of games and activities. Aller-Tantlinger and Kubla are also considering special themes for each month – perhaps one month will include a car show, another might have a bike night, another a “duck drop” game. The first event of this year is scheduled for April 17 between noon and 6 p.m.

“We’re trying to add something different in each month,” Kubla said.

Each food truck donates about 20% of their proceeds to the fire department. Social distancing protocols and mask-wearing will be required, she said.

The fundraising initiative comes at a critical time for Leechburg Volunteer Fire Company.

Leechburg and other fire departments in the region rely on fundraising for the majority of their revenue. Before the pandemic, the volunteers said Leechburg would bring in money through weekly bingo nights, a carnival and “gun bashes” twice a year – those would net about $40,000. Some of those initiatives – like bingo – have returned, but the volunteers needed to do something to make up for funds lost during the spring and summer of the 2020.

Kubla and Aller-Tantlinger described a list of expenses that didn’t let up during the pandemic. The department recently had to pay to replace a leaking section of the roof and purchased 13 new air tanks for its firefighters.

“That’s thousands and thousands of dollars,” Kubla said.

Right now, the department is trying to buy a new fire truck, and would eventually like to build a new banquet hall. Money earned at the events will go toward the department’s expenses, as well as toward supplies for future events, like compiling baskets of goods for auction, the volunteers said.

“It’s hard to keep going to the stores in town and asking for donations over and over and over again,” Kubla said. “Because they’re hurting just as much as everybody else. By doing this, I think it takes a lot of pressure off of them.”

The Rally on the River events appear to bring in more money than the department’s original fundraisers, Kubla said, though they are much more elaborate and time-consuming to plan. She and Aller-Tantlinger encouraged residents of Leechburg and surrounding areas to attend, noting it is not only an opportunity for people to get together after months of isolation but is also imperative for the safety of the community.

“If their house is on fire and they want us to put that fire out, we need to have our trucks up and running and we need to have the best equipment,” Kubla said.

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