Please click the donation button, and you will be taken to a secure page to enter your credit card information.
You will have an opportunity to print a receipt, and you will also receive an email confirmation of your donation.
Your credit card number is neither revealed to nor stored at Glen Echo Fire Department.
Many residents are surprised to learn Montgomery County has a “combination” fire, rescue and EMS system, meaning that it has both volunteer and paid firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics. The combination system provides significant benefits to our residents, the most important of which is a large contingency of well-trained and dedicated volunteers who staff county emergency apparatus on a daily basis.
While Montgomery County recognizes the many benefits of volunteer fire-rescue and EMS services, it provides only a portion of the financial support needed for Glen Echo Fire Department’s operations. Like all of the local fire departments, Glen Echo’s ability to continue operations remain dependent on community donations and grants from Glen Echo and Bethesda residents and businesses. The direct community support not only covers a significant part of our operating expenses (vehicle and equipment acquisition and repair, training, gear, uniforms, and more), it also ensures we retain a direct connection to the community.
Other ways for you to contribute to Glen Echo Fire Department:
Please mail your donation to:
Glen Echo Fire Department
PO Box 734
Glen Echo, MD 20812
Please do not hand checks to firehouse personnel.
Replace your old, worn-out mattress with a brand new one from our friends at The Mattress Connection and support Glen Echo Fire Department! Please see our online flyer.
Donate used clothes or shoes in the bins at the firehouse, at Westbard Shopping Center, or Glen Echo Shopping Center and help support GEFD!
If you have donated clothing at one of our collection bins and would like a receipt, you can download one here: Clothing Donation Receipt Form. For assistance determining the appropriate value of donated items, you may find it useful to consult the Goodwill Valuation Guide for Donors.
Federal employees and retirees: Please consider listing the Glen Echo Fire Department as a recipient for your donation to the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). Our campaign number (16733) will appear on banners that will be hung on the station — a constant reminder as you drive past the station on Massachusetts Avenue and Sangamore.
A popular alternative to a cash donation is a gift of appreciated securities. Generally, in addition to receiving an income-tax deduction for the full, fair market value of the stock, the donor avoids any potential tax on the capital gain of the securities assuming the appropriate holding period has been satisfied.
Charitable bequests can allow donors to make significant contributions to the Department that they would not have been able to make during life, with the added bonus of reducing estate tax liability. Bequests by will may provide the Department with a specific dollar amount or property, a percentage of the estate, a residual amount, or a contingency bequest.
Charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, gifts of real estate with or without retained life interests, or life insurance can also be an attractive and suitable means of donating to Glen Echo Fire Department. We also accept used vehicle donations.
Glen Echo Fire Department does not:
If you receive a solicitation in one of the above-listed forms that references Glen Echo Fire Department, it is imperative that you contact us immediately and provide as much information as possible.
Funds donated by the community have allowed us to operate our ambulance with “medic” status (enabling our paramedics to administer drugs and to treat heart attack and stroke patients), purchase uniforms for our members, maintain our firehouse, pay our office staff, stock our kitchen pantry, buy office furniture, install landscaping upgrades, repair our engine and other vehicles, and purchase vehicles for our members and command personnel to use while attending training or performing their duties.
Our mailings are usually distributed to every address on the various US Postal Service carrier routes in our service area. It’s far more cost effective for us to send mail this way than to attempt to remove the addresses of the handful of residents who might not wish to receive our correspondence. Most people tell us that they enjoy hearing from public safety providers and that we strike just about the right balance in terms of the frequency of our outreach.
Donations to Glen Echo Fire Department are tax-deductible under §170(c)(1) of the the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions that must be directed to a §501(c)(3) entity may be made to the Glen Echo Fire Department Foundation.
The Glen Echo Fire Department Foundation was created in 2012 to facilitate receipt of financial gifts that can only be made to a 501(c)3 entity. The Foundation is administered entirely by volunteers from the community and has no salary expenses, so a very high percentage of each dollar raised goes directly to fulfilling the Foundation’s mission. IRS EIN 45-3515103.
If you have questions about donations, please send us a message on the contact us page of our website.
