LEHIGH, Iowa — Fire Chief Kirk Kelley will stop at nothing to get funding for a much-needed new firehouse for his department.
And when he says that, he means it.
Last summer, he went to the extreme when he went on a hunger strike until enough money was raised for the Lehigh Fire Department. Crews currently operate out of a two-bay station, which is part of the municipal building. All they currently get is a 30x60 portion and the two doors.
The department is all-volunteer and protects almost 70 square miles. They currently have 17 members with an average experience of six years. Their current station, he said, is close to 50 years old and isn’t big enough for their expanding department.
Hunger strike difficulties
Over the 40-day hunger strike, he drank either juice or water throughout the day and broth at night.
“I figured no other fire chief had done it before, so why not be the first?” Chief Kelley said. “I’m never shy about pushing the envelope. I would do anything to help our fire department get the new station.”
But this extreme measure did come with its difficulties.
Not only did he lose 30 pounds in the process, but he had to deal with negative backlash from surrounding communities and fellow firefighters.
“They didn’t understand why I was doing what I was doing,” he said. “We have been trying to raise money for our new station for over five years … some even thought that our small town wasn’t even worth it.”
Before resorting to the hunger strike, Chief Kelley tried a wide-range of options including grant applications, writing to local businesses for help, pancake breakfasts, an ice fishing tournament, firemen’s ball and they even raffled off an Orange County chopper.
So the hunger strike, he said, came as a last resort after many years of failure.
The strike raised a total of $15,730 and they still need $464,270 to reach their goal. As a bonus, they had an anonymous donor come forward to match the first $50,000 they make.
Not giving up yet
And because they still have a lot of ground to make up, Chief Kelley is stepping up his game this year with a six-headed attack.
First, he’s going to ask surrounding businesses again for donations. They also made a giant piggy bank to put in front of their station to raise money from passersby. A continued fundraising presence will be online with their GoFundMe account.
They also teamed up with a company called I-texts and people can text ‘Fire1' to 70000 to receive text deals for stores like Walmart, Best Buy and Omaha Steaks. For each deal received, their fire department gets paid. It doesn’t cost the person who receives the deal anything, and you can cancel at any time by texting ‘Stop’ to 70000.
The last final push is something Chief Kelley said is a “little crazy, but just might work.”
Instead of fasting, he’s going to beg on the streets all over the U.S., including Las Vegas, Los Angeles and other big cities.
He’ll have a boot and a sign and will try to get donations starting the second week of February.
“My New Year’s resolution this year is to raise money for the new station,” he said. “And I will stop at nothing to get it done.”
