A group of twenty Indiana Rotarians will travel February 22 to Mexico City to present three fire trucks and emergency equipment to small communities without fire protection.

The three trucks were retired from service from fire departments in Attica, Perryville and Darlington. Additional emergency equipment was donated by firefighters from Battle Ground, Malotte, Hillsboro, Wallace, Anderson, Muncie, Rensselaer, Covington, Veedersburg, Cowan, Portland, Hartford City, Union City and Crawfordsville.

The need for fire equipment was confirmed in January, 2005 when Rotarian Claude Johnson, Crawfordsville, was hosted by Mexican Rotarians to meet with fire officials.

Local Mexican Rotary clubs offered financial support and asked Hoosier Rotarians to assist. Members of the Rotary Clubs of Crawfordsville, Anderson, Rockville, Shelbyville and Attica-Williamsport volunteered financial support. Together, Mexican and Hoosier Rotarians sought matching funds from The Rotary Foundation, more than doubling the funds raised locally to over $19,000.  A significant amount of in-kind assistance was also donated by members of the Crawfordsville community.

Mexican Rotarians in the host communities of Ixtapan de la Sal, Actopan and Jilotepec will assist local authorities in maintenance of the fire trucks. “We hope this project will lead to long-term ties through Rotary between Hoosier and Mexican communities,” said Johnson. Johnson also mentioned Rotarians plans to deliver Hoosier fire trucks to seven other small Mexican communities in the coming months.

Members of the Indiana delegation include Rotarians Suzann Shackleton, Pine Village, Amy  Comer- Broderick, Danville; Salim Najjar, Carmel; Tom Dusing, Carmel; Micah Maxwell, Muncie, Ceola Digby-Berry, Muncie, Claude and Linda Johnson, Crawfordsville; Carl Burkhart, Crawfordsville; Maureen and Zbig Grabowski, West Lafayette;  Mike and Nancy Ellis, Muncie, Martin and Mary Catherine Limbird, Muncie; Jeff and Kathy Rapkin,; Interact club leaders Meaghan Collins and Patrick Dykes, Anderson; and Ohio resident Beth Quarles.

       Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. Approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 31,000 Rotary clubs located in 167 countries

The Attica fire truck ready for Mexico