MSFA Weekly Report for County Associations and Partner
A special THANK YOU to all of our Armed Forces Veterans
PDF: MSFA Weekly Report week ending 11.11.22
National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Dial 988
SAFER Position Filled: The MSFA SAFER team welcomes Stephen Jenkins of Allegany
County to the role of Social Media/Community–Based Marketing Manager. Stephen will be
charged with robust recruitment and marketing campaigns through all MSFA social media
outlets as well as designing new and exciting content for the MSFA websites. He will also use
his experience in videography to help create updated videos on topics such as mentoring,
recruitment, and membership sustainability. Look for more information on Stephen’s projects in
upcoming weekly reports.
REMINDER: SAFER grant Northern Maryland R and R Coordinator Position: The
application period for the Northern Maryland Regional Recruitment and Retention Coordinator
for Kent, Harford, Cecil, Baltimore, Carroll counties has been extended to November 15th. If you
or someone you know is currently involved in recruitment in any of those counties, we would love
to hear from you! Resumes can be sent to KLoveless@msfa.org
MSFA Mentorship Program Rollout: Thank you to those of you that joined us last Saturday
for the final review of the new MSFA Mentorship Program. Regional and County training is now
available. If you would like to learn more about how this program can help your department
retain your most valuable assets, provide guidance on building your future leaders, and help
provide insight on vital succession planning, please contact SAFER Program Manager Heather
Gorski at hgorski@msfa.org to coordinate training. The Guide will be available through the
Recruiter Portal on the MarylandVolunteer.org website by next week.
Cancer Screening/Colonial Life Partnership: The MSFA is excited to share the announcement
of a comprehensive benefits package that is now available to fire service volunteers and their
families. For more information on the plans available for cancer screenings, accidental injury and
critical illness coverage specific to fire service personnel needs, check out the website
www.mdvfdbenefits.com. Members of the Colonial Life team will be reaching out to
departments across the state to schedule a visit with their membership to review the package with
no obligation to purchase. Please note that policies are for individuals and not groups. Please
contact Bobby Goninan at bgoninan@gmail.com or 228–383–3146 with any questions.
MSFA 2023 Convention and Conference: Planning for the 2023 MSFA Convention and
Conference is about to be underway! The first meeting of the 2023 Convention Planning
Committee is this coming Wednesday, November 16th at 7pm at Odenton VFC. If you would like
to join the committee, please reach out to Chairman Ron Siarnicki. We will share all important
information regarding the 2023 conference on next week’s report.
MSFA Name Change: Taskforce Chair Teresa Crisman will be announcing the dates and times
for the open forum meetings shortly and they will be announced here on the weekly report.
President Kurtz hanks each of you for your patience as the efforts to gather are organized.
As a reminder, President Kurtz has asked that NO NAME CHANGE PROPOSALS BE
SUBMITTED until after January 1, 2023.
MSFA Committee Notices:
The next meeting of the MSFA Safety Committee will be on Sunday November 20, 2022 from
1100 – 1400 at the Odenton VFD (Anne Arundel County). Guest Speaker(s) on “Is it Okay to
say…. You are Not Okay!” Lunch will be provided by the Odenton VFD. Everyone is invited to
attend our meetings.
The first 2023 MSFA Safety Committee Meeting will be on January 8, 2023 from 1100–1430 at
the MD Shock Trauma Center on Greene Street in Baltimore. We will first meet at MIEMSS and
go down the street to the Trauma Center. Lunch is available in the UMH Cafeteria. Everyone is
invited to attend our meetings from other committees. Any questions please contact Safety Chair
– Michael LeCompte at 443–366–0328.
The MSFA Cancer Committee has announced its 2023 Walk of Hope in Annapolis which will be
held on Sunday, April 23, 2023. They hope to have an excellent turn out again next spring!
The MSFA Ways and Means Committee reminds all departments that the 2023 Convention
$10,000 Raffle tickets have been distributed to all Executive Committee members. Please be sure
to contact them to get your tickets!
If any Committee wishes to share information via this weekly report including meeting dates and
times, please submit it to Executive Director Kate Loveless at KLoveless@msfa.org by the
Wednesday of each week for Friday distribution.
If you are interested in being on an MSFA committee, please visit the MSFA website and submit
the following interest form: https://www.msfa.org/committees/interest–form/
If your department has an upcoming event, please post the information to the MSFA Information
Sharing page on Facebook. The page grows each week and it is a useful tool to help advertise your
events. You can also share important information and milestones on the MSFA website by
submitting an announcement form online at
https://www.msfa.org/about/news/announcements/submit–announcement/
Mental Health Awareness Training: Many departments are embracing a safe and mental health–
aware culture in their stations, and the MSFA Mental Health Taskforce is here to support you. If
your department would like to host a mental health awareness presentation, please reach out to
Teresa Crisman at tacrisman@hotmail.com or PP Dave Lewis at dlewis533@comcast.net for
content that is appropriate for your members.
Upcoming Executive Committee meetings:
December 3–4, 2022 Showell VFC
February 11–12, 2023 Prince Frederick VFD
April 1–2, 2023 Flintstone VFD
Meetings will start at 9am on Saturday and Sunday and all are encouraged to attend.
If you have any questions, please reach out to your county Executive Committee members:
Allegany/Garrett; Tim Dayton daytontd22@gmail.com
Anne Arundel; Ron Block blockntackle@comcast.net
Baltimore; Doug Simpkins, Jr. dougsimpkins350@gmail.com
Calvert/Charles/St. Mary’s; Randy Smith firehouseblues56@yahoo.com
Carroll/Howard; Theresa Collins collins3187@gmail.com
Dorchester/Talbot; Bob Phillips rfcchief48@gmail.com
Frederick/Washington; Chip Jewell cjecc171@comcast.net
Harford/Cecil; PP Steve Cox msfa96@gmail.com
Montgomery; Buddy Sutton b.sutton@ldvfd.org
Prince George’s; Lee Lutz leelutz49@gmail.com
Queen Anne’s/Kent/Caroline; Robbie Blackiston t.r.blackiston@gmail.com
Somerset/Wicomico/Worchester; PP Roger Steger rsteger21842@gmail.com
