Fire departments across Pennsylvania are having difficulty recruiting new members, and chiefs have made no secret of their desire to bring new, younger members aboard.
Cory Milkovich of Butler knows all too well the crucial role a well-staffed fire department plays in a community: local firefighters battled a fire last September that destroyed his family’s Center Township home.
That was why Milkovich and fellow Slippery Rock University students pitched members of the Butler Volunteer Fire District on a public-relations campaign to help their department recruit new members.
Typically, students in SRU’s public relations and integrated marketing communication capstone course pitch marketing campaigns aimed at helping local clients drive business sales.
During the spring semester, Butler Township Manager Tom Knight and township Commissioners Dave Zarnick and Fred Vero attended a capstone class to present students with the township’s needs.
Two student teams were developed, with Milkovich’s team focusing on volunteer firefighter recruitment.
“When you’re actually affected by the issue, it means so much more,” Milkovich said. “These people are real heroes because when you’re running away from a fire, they are running toward it. This is something I can relate to. I may not be a firefighter, but I am someone who was helped by firefighters.”
The students collected responses from a focus group of six firefighters and surveys taken by more than 180 visitors to the Butler Township website and Facebook pages, 63% of which never considered joining the fire department. Many respondents don’t believe they have the physical capabilities needed to be a firefighter.
The students came up with a campaign titled “Find Your Calling,” which included news releases, brochures and a fact sheet that would be distributed to the public through the media and other channels. They also proposed events like “A Day in Our Boots,” where the public can participate in light training exercises to get a better understanding of the job.
There are also plans to target high-school-age students to become firefighters.
When commissioners heard the proposal, “they were so excited about the proposals they viewed on campus that they invited the students to present at their own meeting the next week,” said Allison Peiritsch, SRU assistant professor of communication, who teaches the class that has 52 seniors working with 11 clients. “They brought in some of the current firefighters to present the proposal to them in an effort to get their buy-in because (the firefighters) would be the ones executing the campaign that the students were recommending.”
Butler Township recently merged three fire departments into one district, while still maintaining three stations, and township leaders needed to address volunteer recruitment. Roughly 60 volunteers cover the three stations.
“Public service is very hard to get, and it’s not just in Butler,” Milkovich said. “But this is something that’s worth the effort.”
Tom Streit, a senior communication major from Cranberry Township who is the project manager for the team recruiting firefighters, said he enjoyed knowing the group’s work was not just an academic exercise.
“It’s a good learning experience for us, but it’s also good knowing that the work we are doing will not go unnoticed and we have a chance to spark change and transfer what we learned in the classroom to real-world clients,” Streit said. “They are taking our criticism and we’re taking theirs, and we are working together.”
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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