Everyone Goes Home - Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives Program

» Visit: The National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Golf Tournament Website

In 2004, the first National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) Memorial Golf Tournament was held in Fairfield, PA, to raise funds for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and to heighten awareness of its mission. Since that time, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation golf program has expanded from a single event to more than 45 tournaments held throughout the United States. It has also become an important fundraising vehicle for the Foundation. This year's tournament proceeds are expected to net over $350,000 in critical operating funds to support survivor and fire service programming.

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation golf tournaments are not only effective fundraising opportunities for the Foundation, but also serve as a venue for bringing the message and the mission of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation directly into the community. The Foundation strives to connect all National Fallen Firefighters Foundation local partners - advocates for Everyone Goes Home®, state coordinators for Local Assistance State Teams (LAST), corporate sponsors, fire service survivors, and others - through the National Fallen Firefighters Foundationgolf program. Interested individuals may contribute to the overall effort as tournament coordinators, committee members, volunteers, sponsors, golfers, or speakers, and add a very important local connection to the programs and services of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Their presence and participation is a testimonial to the Foundation's past, present, and future work of honoring our fallen firefighters, providing support and resources to their survivors and preventing future firefighter casualties and fatalities.

National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Golf National Coordinators Phil McLaughlin and Charlie Dickinson strongly encouraged regional tournament coordinators to incorporate the Foundation's firefighter line-of-duty injury and fatality prevention efforts into their events. In 2008 and 2009, at their suggestion, many tournaments held National Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge signings to support the efforts of the NFA and Dr. Burt Clark's Buckle Up® program. This year, at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation golf coordinators meeting held at the Foundation's headquarters in Emmitsburg, MD, in January, Phil McLaughlin urged tournament coordinators to find creative new ways to get the message out about the Everyone Goes Home® program and the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives at their events.

Steve Kimple, assistant advocate manager for the Everyone Goes Home® program, also serves as coordinator for the Central Ohio Fallen Firefighters Memorial Golf Tournament. He said, "the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Golf/Everyone Goes Home® partnership is a personal quest because of my role with the Everyone Goes Home® program." To tie Everyone Goes Home® to golf at his local tournament, each of the "hole sponsorship" signs will feature one of the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives. Steve is also coordinating efforts at the national level to make sure that every golfer at every National Fallen Firefighters Foundation event receives Everyone Goes Home® promotional materials, including brochures, bracelets, and bookmarks, in their golf goody bags.

In the past, many NFFF tournaments featured speakers that were fire service survivors or National Fallen Firefighters Foundation board members. Increasingly those with a firefighter safety focus are being added to the day's events. This year, Steve Kimple, as a representative of the Everyone Goes Home® program, will be addressing tournaments in South East Ohio and Angel Fire, NM. The Tucson, AZ, tournament led by Coordinator Gary West, has gone a step further and devoted an entire day to firefighter health and safety programming. This year's safety seminar will feature a keynote presentation on "Fire Safety Culture" by Janet Wilmoth, editor of Fire Chief Magazine. Also, on the agenda for the day are: "Highway Safety for Responders" by Gary West; "The Who, What, and How of Fireground Safety & Effectiveness" by Tim Sendelbach; and "My Personal Battle with Cancer" by Jim Morgan. At the same event in 2008 and 2009, Dr. Gordon Graham, who worked with Chief Billy Goldfeder to develop FireFighterCloseCalls.com, was the featured presenter.

The development of partnerships with United States Air Force Fire Protection has become an important growth area for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation national golf program. In 2009, the first National Fallen Firefighters Foundation international event was held at Kyoto Air Force Base in Japan. This year, Air Force/ National Fallen Firefighters Foundation joint ventures have been confirmed for Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado and Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. These tournaments present not only an added venue for our fundraising efforts, but also present a promising way to spread the message of the Everyone Goes Home® program to military firefighting personnel.

Director of Fire Service Programs Victor Stagnaro summed up the Everyone Goes Home®/Golf partnership this way. "In 2004, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation sponsored a summit that developed 16 Life Safety Initiatives. This was also the same year that the first National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Golf Tournament was held to raise awareness and to help sustain the programs of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. As the tournaments have grown, so has the momentum of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation efforts to reduce the number of line-of-duty deaths. In the coming months the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation will make even greater efforts to reach every fire department across the country and strengthen and support so many of you who have assisted with the fulfilling the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation in its mission to make sure that every firefighter has the training, equipment, and support to make sure that he or she goes home at the end of their shift." There are a variety of ways that you can get involved with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation national golf program in your community:

Coordinate a tournament in your area.
Volunteer at a local tournament.
Become an individual, business, or corporate sponsor. Sponsorships may be dedicated to the memory of a fallen family member or coworker.
Make an in-kind donation of a meal, service, auction item, or prize to your local tournament. Please consider donating your time and talent to this important outreach and help us to continue to support the work of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

For information about National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Regional Golf Tournaments, please visit golf.firehero.org or contact Tricia Hurlbutt at golf@firehero.org or 410.353.0216.