In this season of thankfulness, Georgia-Pacific wants to especially recognize the thousands of firefighters keeping our communities safe every day.

That’s why we founded the Georgia-Pacific Bucket Brigade, a program dedicated to providing grants for fire departments in our facility communities across the country for the past 13 years.

This year, Georgia-Pacific’s Bucket Brigade grant program awarded $190,000 in grants to more than 30 fire departments, bringing the program’s total contributions to over $2.75 million. Collectively, these funds have helped more than 500 departments purchase new, lifesaving equipment, as well as replace damaged safety gear and weathered protective clothing.

Grants are given based on local department needs and proximity to our 150-plus facilities across the country. All grant applicants are also given free memberships to The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), which provides access to tools, resources, programs and advocacy for first responders across the nation.

Safety is a top priority for Georgia-Pacific, and fire departments are a crucial function to ensuring safety within our communities. But despite their importance, fire departments are often underfunded and over 70 percent fire department staffs are volunteers – many of whom are GP employees! Since 2006, GP has made a commitment to support first responders and give them the resources they need to protect themselves and keep our communities safe.

The fire departments receiving grants this year span 15 states where Georgia-Pacific has facilities: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.

Congrats to all our winners!

Visit our Georgia-Pacific Bucket Brigade to see our “Bucket List” of winners and explore the website for more details about the program.