'[We] love interacting with the kids': Columbia County firefighters mentoring local youth

Columbia County Fire Rescue's Station 17 has spent years mentoring elementary school kids through a partnership with Columbia County Community Connections, which provides after-school programs to strengthen families and youth.

Station 17 Capt. Steven Parish said the partnership began after the station's opening because Station 17 is in front of the senior center, which is connected to Community Connections.

"They'll come over here and we do station tours and the guys will go over there and do career talks, fire safety stuff and talk about the fire department," Parish said. "They'll show the kids the fire trucks, equipment and then talk about what firefighters do. ... We just are there to kind of mentor the kids and just being present because it's right behind the fire station."

Parish said teaching kids about fire safety is important because it can ease fears if a child ever finds themselves in a situation where firefighters are responding to their home.

"It a puts a face with it," he said. "If they see firemen on the roof of their house, they're just normal people and there's nothing to be scared of. It just helps them relax around the firemen and if there's an emergency, they feel comfortable around us and they're familiar with what we do."

Station 17 firefighters also take part in an annual Community Connections event where kids learn about what it is like to work in a restaurant.

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"Once a year, they have an event where we go over and the kids set up a restaurant inside the center," Parish said. "The firemen go over, sit down and the kids come around and take their order and serve them food – kind of like working in a restaurant environment. It teaches them how to interact with adults and [build] communication skills ... The firefighters love interacting with the kids. They love seeing how excited they get and happy that we're over there."

In addition to Station 17 dedicating their time to the kids, the department as a whole supports the Community Connections program financially.

"We do our boot drive every year and a portion of the money we raise goes to Community Connections for the Shop with a Firefighter [program] in December," Parish said. "The fire department and the [Columbia County] Sheriff's Office will bring the kids out with their Christmas lists and then a firefighter is assigned to a kid and we'll take them around the store and help them pick out things."

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: '[We] love interacting with the kids': Columbia County firefighters mentoring local youth