At the Alliance City Council Meeting on Sept. 6, WESTCO CEO David Briggs and Petroleum Division Manager Jess Wimmer presented the Alliance Fire Department with a donation of $40,000 from WESTCO and the Land O’Lakes Foundation.
The donation comes as an expression of gratitude for the Alliance Fire Department for battling a fire at the Tire Center on June 28.
The donation was made possible by the Land O’Lakes Foundation Coop Match Program, which matches dollar-for-dollar the cash donations of member cooperatives to local nonprofit organizations, schools and cities. According to Alliance Fire Chief Troy Shoemaker, the funds will help the fire department purchase new bunker gear.
Briggs said, “WESTCO is thankful to the Land O’Lakes Foundation for the opportunity to participate in the Member Co-op Match Program. We are also grateful to the Alliance Fire Department for their efforts in protecting our community, which we witnessed first-hand as they battled a fire at our Tire Center on June 28.”
Shoemaker said he was grateful for the donation, noting that WESTCO has helped the department several times with training.
“The fire department is very humbled by WESTCO’s overwhelming generosity,” said Shoemaker. “We have always had a great relationship with WESTCO and enjoy working with their staff members to accomplish some of our training goals. WESTCO has assisted us with training our members in grain bin rescues and most recently sponsored Propane Emergencies training that we conducted in the old KMART parking lot.”
A press release issued by the city of Alliance noted that the funds will also be used to replace equipment that was damaged while fighting the fire at the Tire Center.
(Photo by Kathryn Kellar/Alliance Times-Herald)