Support Our Mountaintop Volunteer Fire Departments

Hi there!

Welcome to our 2024 fundraiser! We are local citizens in the Northern Catskill Mountains raising money for our volunteer fire departments. Our rural communities, known as The Mountaintop, include Ashland, Haines Falls, Hensonville, Hunter, East Jewett, Jewett, Lanesville, Lexington, Prattsville, Maplecrest, Tannersville, Windham, and West Kill, all served by 11 volunteer fire departments.

Our rural fire departments face unique challenges. They often require multiple departments to respond to large fires due to equipment limitations and not having enough active volunteers. Funds are needed for protective gear, recruiting, training, and community safety & education programs. Your contribution will directly support these needs. Fundraising can also be challenging for them due to the time and resources needed to fundraise.

This will be the 3rd year of us hosting a GoFundMe and throwing the Purple Moon Barn Dance! The barn dance is a free, family-friendly event for all residents of the mountaintop with music, food, drinks, and more! We aim to build community spirit, celebrate the brave volunteer fire departments that serve us, and raise a little money to show the fire departments our support. Last year we were able to donate $11,000 and hope to do the same this year! Thank you for your kind contributions.

All proceeds from this GoFundMe will be evenly distributed among the 11 departments, managed by John Murphy, Treasurer of Hunter Fire Co No 1, Inc. We ensure transparency in fund distribution. Please note: Contributions and donations are not tax-deductible as we are not a nonprofit - we are just local residents doing something fun and nice for our community.

Our volunteers are our friends, neighbors, and family, providing essential protection to our community and visitors. Thank you for reading, and thank you for any contribution you make, big or small. Every bit helps.

The Purple Moon Barn Dance will be held on July 28th at the Windham Manor from 3pm-8pm. Swing in and meet your neighbors! Everyone gets a hot meal, a cold drink, and good tunes. This is an event for those who live on the mountaintop full/part-time or work here. It's free with a suggested donation of $10 at the door.

Warmly,

The Purple Moon Barn Dance Team