Thanks to a large donation from the Richardson Foundation, the Niverville Fire Department will be getting some much needed new equipment.

Fire Chief Keith Bueckert says the Niverville Fire Department has been raising money for a few more Self Contained Breathing Apparatus units or SCBA’s for a while now. He notes a few months ago Deputy Fire Chief Brad Wasilinchuk and Firefighter Greg Knox submitted a donation request to the Richardson Foundation.

"Greg Knox works for Richardson International and brought it to our attention, this foundation. We are trying to get 20 SCBAs in Niverville right now, currently, we have 14 so we are trying to fundraise for these SCBAs and Greg thought it would be a great idea to approach the Richardson Foundation about this."

Bueckert notes the Richardson Foundation has sped up their fundraising efforts considerably by offering up an amazing $20,000 grant.

"We are hoping to put it towards funds we have already received through other fundraising efforts and right now we are sitting at about $29,000 for fundraising this year and so we are hoping that we can grab four more SCBAs to bring our total to 18 within the next month or so."

On the last training session of every month, Bueckert says they invite all of their firefighter's families to join them for supper. He notes at this weeks family supper on Tuesday, representatives from the Richardson Foundation and members of the community that work for Richardson International joined them and presented the $20,000 grant. He thanks the foundation for their support.