MCLA receives safety grant

The College recently received $14,020 from the Department of Homeland Security through their grant system. The Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grant was part of a larger grant program meant to assist firefighters nationwide.

            The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) managed the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, which awarded three different types of grants to raise awareness about fire prevention and to better prepare firefighting departments. The College was awarded a Fire Prevention and Safety grant.

            Officer Joseph W. Charon, director of Public Safety, said the grant came with specific uses, as well as a few guidelines.

             “We tell them what we want to do in a proposal,” said Charon, “and afterward, we submit an evaluation on how it impacted the campus.”

            One of the programs the Office of Public Safety sponsored through the grant was a mock dorm burn, held on Monday at the Athletic Fields, according to an article in the North Adams Transcript.

            Charon said, “Basically, it’s a wooden structure with three walls, filled with natural dorm stuff that the average student would have in their dorm. We’ll probably use a candle to start the fire.” He added that candles were the number one causes of dorm fires across the country.

            The mock dorm room was burned to the ground and filmed by Coady Ward, of the College’s TV Studio. The North Adams Fire Department (NAFD) was on hand to keep the burn safe.

            The video from this burn will be made available on the Public Safety Web site, which can be accessed through both the internal and external College sites. There will also be copies of the video on DVD, which will be available during the Wellness Fair.

            Charon said the video will be used by both the office of Public Safety and the NAFD as educational tools. He added that the partnership between the two organizations was one of the stipulations on the FP&S grant.

            Money from the grant was also used to purchase fire blankets for the townhouse complex, lock boxes on every building, reflective signage on the townhouse blocks, as well as fire education programs with the Greek organizations on campus.

            The process of applying for the grant started with a risk assessment for the College concerning fire safety and awareness. Public Safety’s proposal for the FP&S grant included both a plan for how the money was to be spent as well as a time frame. Once the proposal was drawn up, it was sent to Thomas Bernard to be looked over.

            Bernard currently serves as the executive assistant to President Mary Grant, and used to work as the director of corporate, foundation and government relations in the Office of Institutional Advancement. 

            “In this particular case,” said Bernard, “I reviewed the proposal before it was submitted, and have discussed details of the project with Director Charon on a couple of occasions.”

            Bernard said the College applies for between two to four grants a month. 

            He said, “We learn about grants through research, from grant information mailing lists, and by word of mouth.”