Those pictured during the grant presentation include Patrick Wiese, board trustee; Ralph Lundberg, board secretary; Nicholas Dykhuis, grant writer; Mike Roberson and Rachael Reed, grant collaborators; Chief Adam Abbott of the Branch station; Assistant Chief Al Bufka Sr. of Grant station; Chief Vince Williams of the Free Soil/Meade station; Chief Joe Cooper and Assistant Chief Todd VanNortwick of the Riverton station; Chief Darrell Crawford of the Custer station; Chief Jeremy Goble of the Fountain Area station; Bill Lehrbass, board treasurer; Chuck Keller, board chairman; and Kevin Miller, board vice chairman.
WALHALLA — The Mason County Rural Fire Authority has received a $5,842.80 grant from the Great Lakes Energy People Fund to help purchase new automated external defibrillators for emergency response vehicles throughout Mason County.
The grant will cover the cost of more than three of the eight state-of-the-art AEDs the authority is purchasing from Stryker Corp. The devices will be placed in eight medical response units stationed throughout the county.
“Mason County Rural Fire Authority applied for a 2026 People Fund Grant to help pay for our out-of-date AEDs used in cardiac emergencies,” said Dale Goodrich, administrator of the Mason County Rural Fire Authority.
The People Fund is supported through Great Lakes Energy’s Round Up program, which allows customers to round up their monthly electric bills. The collected funds are then awarded as grants to support community projects and organizations.
“We want to thank Great Lakes Energy and its customers for providing this funding,” Goodrich said.
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