OCEAN CITY — In an effort to halt the membership drain that has plagued fire departments around the region in recent years, resort officials this week announced a recruitment and retention coordinator has been hired.
Volunteer fire companies have been experiencing a drain on membership rolls in recent years, and the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company has not been immune to some degree. When OCVFC President Jay Jester pitched the idea of hiring a retention and recruitment coordinator for the department in February, he said the volunteer company had a maximum membership number of 125 in the first-due response area and that number had steadily dwindled to around 77 active members, or about 67 percent of the ideal number.
To that end, the OCVFC decided to take a proactive approach to reversing the trend with the hiring of a retention and recruitment coordinator, who will seek new recruits for the volunteer company and manage the existing members to ensure they don’t drop off the active rolls. When Jester pitched the idea to the Mayor and Council in February, he said the department was so confident the new position will help reverse the membership drain, it had agreed to pay the hired individual’s salary for the first two years. The only financial commitment from the town would be paying for the new position’s benefits package.
The town announced this week it had hired Christine Bennett, an experienced firefighter and EMT in New Castle County, Del. to fill the position.
Bennett will assist the OCVFC president and fire chief in developing and maintaining an effective volunteer program. Her roles will include organizing, coordinating and managing the recruitment of volunteers and cadets for the Ocean City Fire Department. In addition, Bennett will be the main point of contact for volunteers during and after their probationary year.
Bennett’s professional experience began as a cadet with her local fire department at the age of 15 and she has been a volunteer firefighter and EMT for the last 12 years. She has earned her Pro-Board Firefighter I and II certifications as well as NR-EMT. She also graduated magna cum laude from Delaware Technical Community College with associated degrees in fire science and fire protection engineering.
“I am excited to start the next chapter of my career with the Ocean City Fire Department as the volunteer retention and recruitment coordinator,” she said. “The volunteer fire service is something I will always hold very close to my heart and I am honored to have a profession where I can work to support it.”
