For anyone wondering why it’s bad to block a fire hydrant, the owner of this car can explain. The fire hose had to be strung through the back seat of his car. California’s Anaheim Fire & Rescue Department warned drivers this week on what happens when a car is parked in front of a fire hydrant and a fire breaks out. “Is a closer parking spot worth the broken windows and the citation and towing fees?” they said. “Please do not park in fire lanes.” This photo makes that abundantly clear.
The first of three grant opportunities this year is underway. The January applications are in and currently being reviewed and the winners will be announced on or before March 4th. I am really excited to be providing more safety equipment to the Ontario volunteers.
The next opportunities will be on May 13th and again on Sept. 9th. You can find more details about these grants on the OAFC website. Click here.
Look what Santa brought me for Christmas! I am now an O.A.F.C. Honourary Chief and what an honour it is. I suspect that Santa must have gotten a letter from one Michelle O’Hara at the O.A.F.C. so Michelle and/or Santa, thank you very much!
I’m finally ready to offer more grants to Ontario’s volunteer firefighters. With the first ones under our belt, the O.A.F.C. and my Jenny’s Heroes Canada program have streamlined the process a little, and this time we have a better idea of what to expect. (The first time we expected 20 to 30 applications and received over 100!) Here’s the plan:
I’m really looking forward to seeing what the needs are and where I can provide the most help.
We are in the process of paying for all the new equipment requested by our six winning volunteer fire departments. The funds have been sent from the Jenny Jones Foundation to the OAFC, who in turn is paying all the invoices so that the equipment can be delivered as soon as possible. That’s the way these grants work. The winning departments do not receive any funds directly. They order the gear they need, send the invoices to the OAFC, the invoices are paid by the OAFC, and the new equipment is then delivered. We are anxious to share photos as soon as the first delivery is made. Stay tuned…
I am very excited to finally reveal the six winners of my first Jenny’s Heroes 
CANADA grants. It was supposed to be one grant of $25,000 but we got so many more applications than expected, that I doubled the amount to $50,000 this time. The extra $25,000 allowed us to spread the aid to several smaller fire departments as well. The applications were carefully reviewed by a qualified panel in Canada and by me as well. To see all the winners and send them your congratulations and messages of support, click here.
The winner of the first Jenny’s Heroes Canada grant will be announced on Tuesday, October 9th. It’s taking a little longer due to the overwhelming response – over 100 applications! Each application has been reviewed by a qualified panel of 4 people in Canada and I also reviewed every single one. Between all of us, we have finally agreed on where the first grant should go. I can hardly wait to share the news! ???????? ????
Here is the place I grew up. The beautiful province of Ontario, Canada is one of ten provinces and three territories that make up the country and of course, Ontario is the best one! ???? Of the 2 million beautiful lakes in Canada, 250,000 are in Ontario, along with moose, elk, timber wolves, bears, caribou and more, especially farther north. All of this land and wild life is vulnerable to fires and there are hundreds of teams of volunteer firefighters all over Ontario ready to jump in during an emergency. Whether it be a fire or a highway crash, water or ice rescues, or any medical emergency, volunteer firefighters are on it. I respect their commitment to their communities and the risks they are willing to take.
My offer of providing equipment to these brave firefighters is underway and applications are coming in (a lot more than I expected) and being reviewed by a team of professionals in Canada and myself here in the U.S.. Requests have come in from as far south as Windsor (close to my hometown of London), east almost to Ottawa, our capital, west to the border of Manitoba, and as far north and remote as Red Lake, Ear Falls, and Moonbeam.
Their needs cover a broad range of equipment from rescue craft to safety boots to new flashlights — it’s clear that help is needed. That’s why I’m here and I plan to continue this grant program as long as the needs are there. More details are coming soon.
I have a profound respect for anyone who chooses a life of service to their community and even more so when the risks are great. That’s why I have offered a grant of $25,000 to support the small volunteer fire departments in Ontario, the province where I grew up. Not knowing where to start, I contacted the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs last month and got a warm reception from Executive Director Richard Boyes while I shared with him my desire to help, and he in turn provided a lot of helpful information about the needs of Ontario’s volunteer firefighters. I knew this was going to be good.
Mr. Boyes put me in touch with Michelle O’Hara (the one who did all the work!). She is the Business Development and Operations Manager for the OAFC and she worked tirelessly on putting this grant program together, addressing every tiny detail, sharing emails with me throughout, and now only one month later, we have a grant program!
We decided to call it Jenny’s Heroes Canada because anyone who chooses to help their fellow citizens is a hero and I love Canada and want to help where help might be needed. Simply put, this grant is for the purchase of equipment to support and keep safe the volunteer firefighters who serve in Ontario.
By the way, I am very familiar with the beautiful province of Ontario. In the early 1960s when I was still a teenager, I played drums in a band and toured all over Ontario from my hometown of London all the way up to Kirkland Lake, Timmins, and Kapuskasing. In fact, I found a newspaper clipping of my first band, the JAD Trio playing in Kirkland Lake in 1965…
My career in show business began in Ontario in 1960s and took me all the way to the Jenny Jones Show, which was nationally syndicated from 1990 to 2003. So now I want to give back. To learn more about the $25,000 grant from Jenny’s Heroes Canada, click here.
Now here is some information about Jenny’s Heroes U.S. where everyday people spent my donations to benefit their communities and even THEY wanted to support their firefighters and first responders. Here are just a few of the gifts that were given:
Jaws of Life donated to the Wolf Creek All Volunteer Fire Department, Wolf Creek, Oregon
400 High Visibity Safety Vests + 28 Sets of Battery Operated Turbo Flares donated to Clark County Emergency Responders, Greenwood, Wisconsin
Fully Equipped Dodge Charger Police Car donated to the Ludwiki Police Department, Hinesville, Geogia
Narcotics Tracking Dog donated to the Charles City Police Department, Charles City, Iowa
Thermal Imaging Camera, Jaws of Life Pump, Rescue Saw, Deck Gun, and AR-FFF-Foam donated to the Turkey Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Turkey Creek, Kentucky
4-Wheel Drive Patrol Vehicle donated to the Gillette College Campus Police in Gillette, Wyoming
Telescoping Pole Trimmer Saws donated to Middlesex Taylor Township Volunteer Fire Department, Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Find all the information you need about the Jenny’s Heroes Canada Ontario Fire Services Equipment Grant by visiting the OAFC website.
Here’s a nice mention from CTV London, posted just as a new wildfire is raging in Ontario. I’ll be honored to help.
