SUN PRAIRIE — Emergency response departments serving rural communities in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin were awarded $731,000 for equipment needs and program enhancements through Compeer Financial’s Fund for Rural America. A total of 173 grants were extended by the Farm Credit cooperative’s giving program, including 13 collaboration grants for equipment shared across multiple departments. 

The Emergency Response Equipment Grant program is designed to financially support equipment essential for emergency response departments serving rural communities. It was enhanced three years ago when the Fund for Rural America added the Emergency Response Equipment Collaboration Grant, underscoring the importance of teamwork among volunteer fire, rescue and ambulance departments in rural areas.

“We recognize rural departments frequently share resources and essential life-saving equipment,” said Karen Schieler, manager corporate giving at Compeer Financial. “The spirit of collaboration is robust among emergency departments within Compeer’s territory, and we are committed to positively impacting more lives. First responders tirelessly dedicate themselves when people are in distress, and these tools and resources will be indispensable in critical situations.”

The Fund for Rural America has awarded more than $4 million in grants supporting rural first responders since 2018. Compeer intends to offer these grants again in August 2025. 

The 2024 Emergency Response Equipment Collaboration Grants offer up to $10,000 and will directly impact 52 collaborating departments. The departments receiving the Emergency Response Collaboration Grants include:

●  Shannon Ambulance, Shannon Fire: battery operated hydraulic extrication tool and struts

●  Dickeyville Rescue Squad Inc., Jamestown First Responders: chest compression system

Additionally, 160 individual departments received Emergency Response Equipment Grants of up to $4,000 each. Since the program’s establishment in 2018, the Fund has distributed 1,130 Emergency Response Equipment Grants totaling more than $3.6 million.

The departments receiving Emergency Response Equipment Grants include:

Wisconsin

●  Darlington Community Fire Department: ventilation fans

●  Hollandale First Responders: pagers

●  Lafayette County EMS: oxygen cascade system

●  Monroe Rural Fire District: LED rechargeable flashlights, lanterns and chargers

●  Wiota Fire Department: pagers

Illinois

●  Apple River Fire Protection District: base radio with power supply, antenna and related wiring, hardware and pagers

●  Dakota Fire Protection District: air pack masks, gas monitors, gas test cylinders, search lights and batteries

●  Forreston Fire Protection District: fire/EMS skid unit

●  Freeport Rural Fire Protection District: pagers, portable radios and antennas, speakers and microphones

●  Pearl City Fire Department: pagers

●  Rock City Fire Protection District: handheld flashlights, handheld collapsible stop/slow traffic control paddles, traffic safety vests