When Community Service Is Ignored: A Hard Truth for School Sports

The Keystone Fire Company No. 1 of Shillington declined a monetary donation request from the Governor Mifflin Football Club — and one member’s response said everything: show up and serve first. Volunteer fire companies are struggling to recruit younger members. Student athletes are walking past the fire station. Something is out of balance.

A conversation at the Keystone Fire Company No. 1 of Shillington has put a spotlight on something the community has been quietly discussing for a while. When the Governor Mifflin Football Club sent a letter requesting a monetary donation from the fire department, members voted by majority to decline. The decision sparked a conversation worth having loudly — one about priorities, civic responsibility, and what we are teaching the next generation about the difference between playing a game and serving a community. WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED According to Scott Naugle , an active volunteer with the fire company, the donation request came up during the department’s quarterly business meeting. After discussion, members voted to decline — not out of hostility toward the football program, but out of a principled concern about precedent. Volunteer fire departments operate on limited resources . Their mission is public safety and emergency response — not acting as a funding source for school athletic programs. Saying yes once means saying yes to every sports team that follows. The fire company still awards a $2,500 scholarship to Governor Mifflin graduating seniors — one of the larger scholarships available in the district. Their commitment to young people is not in question. Their willingness to be taken for granted is. THE STATEMENT THAT SAID EVERYTHING One comment made during the meeting resonated throughout the room and, when shared publicly, throughout the community: Member of Keystone Fire Company No. 1 “Maybe if some of the football players and other sports players would take an interest and become active at the Fire Company, we could reconsider it.” That is not a complaint. That is an invitation. And it reveals something important about the relationship between school athletics and the community that funds, cheers, and sustains them. THE VOLUNTEER CRISIS NO ONE TALKS ABOUT Volunteer fire companies across Pennsylvania — and across the country — are struggling to recruit younger members. These organizations do not run on tax dollars or government salaries. They run on the willingness of ordinary people to train, respond to emergencies in the middle of the night, and put themselves between danger and their neighbors. What Athletics Teach Teamwork. Discipline. Competition. Perseverance on a scoreboard. What Service Teaches Responsibility. Leadership. Character. Showing up when lives are on the line. Community service builds the kind of character that no scoreboard ever measures — and no trophy ever captures. When young people step up to serve — training with the fire company, responding to emergencies, helping their neighbors when it matters most — they become part of something far greater than any athletic program can offer. That opportunity is sitting right there for Governor Mifflin students. Waiting. THE COMMUNITY ATHLETIC BUILDING QUESTION Many residents have also noted a pattern of shifting priorities within the district. Significant attention and resources have gone toward athletic facilities, including the construction of a facility marketed as a “community athletic building.” Yet many residents report that broader community access to that facility is limited — raising a legitimate question about whether the “community” label reflects the reality of who actually benefits from it. Athletics have a place in education. No one disputes that. But when sports begin to overshadow academics and civic engagement — when a football program asks a cash-strapped volunteer fire department for money while the district spends heavily on athletic infrastructure — it is fair to ask whether the priorities are properly ordered. WHAT EARNING COMMUNITY SUPPORT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE The firefighters at Keystone Fire Company No. 1 are not anti-sports. Their message is straightforward: if you want community support, earn it through community service. Imagine if even a small number of Governor Mifflin student athletes: ● Volunteered with the fire company and trained alongside its members ● Participated in community events and emergency preparedness programs ● Helped their neighbors during emergencies instead of asking them for checks The impact on this community would be enormous. FINAL WORD The question the firefighters of Keystone Fire Company No. 1 have put before this community is simple and worth repeating: What priorities should we set for the next generation? Athletic success alone — or education, service, and leadership as well? Communities are strongest when schools, students, and civic organizations work together — not when schools ask those organizations for money while their students walk past the fire station without ever looking in. The strength of a community is not measured by the number of games it wins. It is measured by the people willing to step forward when their neighbors need help.