By Kurt T Bradley
Director of CHIEF Grants

Photo courtesy of Kurt Bradley Joshua Chilcote has been a junior firefighter at Geistown Fire Rescue since last year.

GEISTOWN, Pa. — Joshua Chilcote in many ways is just your typical 14-year-old teenager. He attends high school where he runs track and plays soccer. He also listens to his iPod, talks on his cell phone and plays video games just like every other kid his age. But unlike most of his peers, Joshua has accomplished something quite extraordinary —winning an AFG for a brand new fire engine.

He comes from Geistown, a suburb of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. As with most small towns in Pennsylvania, there is a long heritage of firefighting, the very beginnings of which can be traced to Colonial Philadelphia and Benjamin Franklin with the advent of volunteer fire departments. As a matter of fact, there are more VFDs in Pennsylvania than in any other state in the country — many of which have been supported by generation after generation of firefighting families.

So it's no surprise that Joshua's parents (Bret and Shelia) are both volunteer firefighters. It's in Joshua's blood too, volunteering with chores and fundraisers around the station and becoming a junior firefighter just last year. And what a year this last year's been for him.

In December, I was invited to teach a grant-writing seminar at the Oakland Volunteer Fire Company in Johnstown. Tom Callihan, the department's Fire Chief, agreed to host the seminar. About 35 representatives attended from various public safety agencies around the area, including Joshua.

Good questions
During the seminar, he utilized the study materials and was very diligent in his note taking. He asked questions, good questions that demonstrated a remarkable interest in the material I was covering. Josh was attentive for the entire 16-hour presentation that spanned two days and a good student … one I hoped to hear from in the future.

In early March, I received a rough draft from Joshua of his AFG application. Intrigued by his age and determination, I gave it a read. Not only was it well written, it was for a new fire engine — one of the toughest awards to be had anywhere, even for a seasoned grant writer.

By law, only 25 percent of the total money in the AFG program can be awarded for new fire vehicles. That means an application for a fire engine has to be close to perfect — and Joshua's was.

I contacted Chief Callihan about Joshua's application after I received it. He told me he had been mentoring Joshua, working with him on the writing process. He told me too that Joshua was working on the grant as part of a Boy Scout Project as well as remodeling the station's living quarters for the same project and his Eagle Scout badge.

Photo courtesy of Kurt Bradley

I told Chief Callihan I would review Joshua's application and get back to him with my recommendations. After a few minor edits from me, I sent Joshua a finalized AFG document to submit for consideration.

This week, Joshua's application paid off big time — his department was awarded the grant for a new $260,000 fire engine! Besides making a whole lot of firefighters happy, he made history as possibly the youngest grant writer to ever win a grant from the Department of Homeland Security, let alone one for a new fire engine.

Some might chalk it up to luck, but not me. This young man demonstrated that with the proper skills and training, anything is possible. I take great pride in having been a part of his success, as does Chief Callihan. I'm certain Joshua's parents are proud as well — they too had a hand in this unbelievable achievement, instilling a sense of "service to one's community" in their son.

Way to go Josh — this is one for the record books.

Kurt Bradley is a retired public safety official and the director of CHIEF Grants, which is a division of CHIEF, one of the country’s leading suppliers of public safety equipment. Its grant consultation services are offered free of charge to any public safety agency in the US as a customer service to their customers. CHIEF Grants also presents “Grant Writing Training Seminars for Public Safety Agencies” in a series of fee based seminars presented at various locations throughout the US. Since 2004, CHIEF Grants has been responsible for assisting numerous public safety agencies across the country in securing federal, state, local and corporate/private foundation grant awards in excess of $88 million dollars. For further information about their services and training seminars visit its web site at Chiefgrants.com or call 800-992-0272.