The Gift of Giving 05 27 26 Fighters Behavioral Health Alliance

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00][music] [music] >> Hello everyone. My name is Stephen Murray and I'd like to welcome you to another episode of The Gift of Giving.

[00:00:30]We all owe so much to our first responders.

[00:00:33]And if you're living out of state, I hope you will stay tuned because the organization that's being represented today, they have different chapters throughout the nation and I'm sure they can be of assistance and some help or you might even want to volunteer and join.

[00:00:51]So, I would like to welcome to our program. It gives me extreme pleasure, Jeff Dill, founder and CEO of the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance.

[00:01:02]Good morning. Thank you so very much for having me.

[00:01:04]And we'll make it easier on you. We'll just call it FBHA. There you go. FBHA.

[00:01:09]When I have to type it out, it's like, okay, this is this. I just FBHA. Yes.

[00:01:13]But if I say that at the beginning, Right. Absolutely. That's why I say it.

[00:01:17]If I just say I'm FBHA, people don't know who we are.

[00:01:21]Okay. So, would you like to give us a brief You were the founder of this.

[00:01:25]Could you give us a brief overview of the organization and when it was founded? Absolutely. Yeah.

[00:01:31]And I'll I'll give you the reader's digest, but it started actually when I was a battalion chief outside of Chicago in the northwest suburbs. And in 2005, I actually started my fire service career in 1990 as a volunteer, my career in '95, but in 2005, that's when Hurricane Katrina hit down in New Orleans in the southeast and Chicago land area sent, you know, hundreds and hundreds of fire EMS members including a couple from our department and when they came back they were showing me videos and pictures they were picking up bodies in the streets and the devastations and so they struggled with that and so I talked to just hundreds of firefighters across the nation that I had friends that I knew and it was all the same story they were struggling but you have to understand this was 2005 and we just never talked about behavioral health in the fire service.

[00:02:23]It was just what I call cultural brainwashing. You know you don't want to show any weakness because every time you put this uniform on brave strong courageous heroic never show weakness don't ask for help handle all issues on your own and so that's what these members were doing and I thought well you got to do something I I have to do something to help out my brothers and sisters so I went back got my master's degree and became a licensed clinician and actually 2009 my wife Karen and I we founded counseling services for firefighters. Now that was a for-profit organization and we started training clinicians and chaplains you want to work with us you need to understand us we're we're a little different at times and we're a little challenging but in early 2010 I started receiving emails and phone calls from all over the world saying do you do anything about firefighter suicides.

[00:03:13]Said never heard of such a thing.

[00:03:15]And so I started doing a little research on all the post-traumatic stress the relationships addictions as well as suicide of my brothers and sisters in the fire and EMS world and found out that we might have a bigger problem than we thought so in 2010 my wife and I founded FBHA as a nonprofit had three goals educational workshops as well as a scholarship for children and families going back to school and then our most endearing is called those left behind it's our annual weekend retreat for family survivors and we just celebrated our 10th annual one Uh during that weekend retreat, we hold a nationwide we remember night. And uh this year we held it at Orange County Fire Department, and it was just an amazing. It was our 12th annual one. And uh as our families pulled in, uh they had a ladder truck up with a large flag, and uh so we did uh a little I did a little speech. We panned the families with their loved ones' pictures. And then they had the honor guard. We had one of the honor guard sing Amazing Grace. And then at the top of the hour they ran their lights for 1 minute to say we remember our [snorts] fallen brothers and sisters who died by suicide. So, it was just an incredible.

[00:04:29]Uh but I have now validated, unfortunately, 2,336 of my brothers and sisters who have died by suicide, and I've personally spoken to about 2,300 chief officers or family members. And we take all that information, and we build it into our workshops now. And we currently have 16 different workshops that I offer across the nation and Canada. I was just uh up in uh Saskatoon, and and uh spoke at a Canadian Fire Chiefs Conference. So, it it's a global issue is what I'm trying to really get at. Uh not just in particular here to uh the states. And so, that's what we try to do is help out our brothers and sisters, and we get numerous calls every week, and we find counselors for them. We do all that for free. So, it's uh it's it's challenging work, but it's very rewarding, and especially working with the family survivors who I believe are some of the bravest people I've ever met in my life. Yes.

[00:05:25]So, that's uh that's just a little bit about FBHA.

[00:05:28]Yeah, but it's a wonderful operation.

[00:05:30]And 2,336, that's a a frightening statistic.

[00:05:36]>> It is, considering we only estimate about a 60% reporting to us. Uh we track volunteer, career firefighters, wildland, military. I've had the honor of speaking at about a dozen Air Force bases, a couple military, and I was humbled when a brigadier general invited me to speak at the Pentagon about this issue. And so as well as EMS and dispatchers, you know, they are the heart and soul as well of our first responder world.

[00:06:05]>> Yes. So I like I said, it keeps me busy.

[00:06:08]The good Lord has blessed our family with that uh the energy and the ability to do that work. Yes.

[00:06:15]Now, um it is FBHA, uh specifically firefighters. However, if other res- uh first responders reach out to um say from the ambulance drivers or or policemen, would you help them if you got a call from police officers saying you know that >> Absolutely, we have and and through I've spoken at different conferences that are police oriented. I was just out in Missouri at a conference that was 95% police dominated uh attendance. So yes, we help out any of those first responders. And then surprisingly, we get a lot of calls from family members saying, "Hey, you know, my loved one is is been struggling. Do you have counselors in this area that understand first responders?" And we for probably about the last 12 13 years have worked very closely with the National Volunteer Fire Council. And with that, we have put together a national directory of clinicians and FBHA has been the organization that has vetted those 400 plus clinicians.

[00:07:16]Well, um it's uh it's a nice segue because one of my uh one of the my the questions that I have is I noticed on your website it's not only clinicians that you've got together, you've got psychologists, psychiatrists, you've got doctors, social workers, chaplains. You've even got marriage counselors.

[00:07:39]>> Correct. Right. Um and this is employee program.

[00:07:44]And these are You've got them across the country. You know, it's not just basically here in in Nevada. You've got them throughout the the country. Is that correct?

[00:07:53]>> Yes. Quarterly, we do a free workshop for clinicians across the country. And and that's to help with that cultural brainwashing. The for the clinicians to understand why we act the way that we do and the the trauma, the traumatic incidences we see, but also the addictions, the relationship issues, the sleep issues, all those incorporated within the first responder world. So, there's that's why I say we want to have a great selection of clinicians, doctors, psychologists for our brothers and sisters when they're seeking help.

[00:08:27]Because it it takes a lot of strength to reach out and make that phone call. And I want to make sure that people I refer them to that I would feel comfortable in going to. And and people that clinicians I I vetted, some have not made that list just because of the way that they presented themselves. And And I know it sounds harsh, but I I I represent hopefully for my brothers and sisters that get that help. And so, I I try to offer them two or three clinicians. I I tell them, "Please call them. See which one you are feel connected with." Yes.

[00:09:02]Now, when it comes to um like the psychologists and psychiatrists, uh do you network throughout the country? For example, if somebody here in Nevada needed uh a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but you don't have any available here at that this time, uh would you connect them to somebody in Ohio or Pennsylvania or somewhere like that? Or you try not to? Absolutely. No, we will try to try to keep it kind of localized as well. But because the clinician world, now you can have your license apply in different states across the United States. When I started way back in in 2008, you didn't have that ability. You had to do testing in each state. Well, now they've brought that ability to go cross-country. So, they So, a clinician here in Nevada could see people in Utah, Arizona, California, and a lot has to do with telehealth. Yes.

[00:09:58]So, they can the fire first responder can sit in the comfort of their home and talk to a clinician in Utah. And so, that that has opened up. And And I think the greatest thing that we've done is that us in the fire service world, the first responder world, have allowed clinicians to come into our world to understand us. And what they did with that, our clinicians, is they brought so many different types of therapies.

[00:10:22]And that has just been astounding how that has worked out for us. Wow.

[00:10:28]Well, well, along the same lines, um you partner with the National Volunteer Fire Council and the American Psychological Association. You partner with both of those.

[00:10:39]Now, how do you benefit each other? Does it Does it fall along the same lines as what you were just saying that they've learned Right. You learn from each other. No, absolutely. And like I said with the trainings of the psychologists and psychiatrists, for them to get a better perspective of our world. And that's that's important because that cultural brainwashing applies to society.

[00:11:02]When we have workshops where there are either clinicians or for our families, I always started off when you hear the term first responder, what words come to your mind? And people always traditionally say, "Oh, strong, brave, heroic, courageous." And in 17 years of presenting the those workshops, I've never heard anyone say, "Well, they have a lot of anger issues. You know what?

[00:11:21]Their communication skills, especially with their emotions, is nonexistent. And a lot of them drink like fish." But we don't we don't hear those things. We always hear the brave, heroic. So, at times clinicians, psychiatrists, they can be brainwashed into thinking oh I'm going to be working, but in reality we're just human beings. And we're dealing with those addictions, depression, sleep issues, whatever people do in society. And we see it, too. And so that's that's why we want them to understand what our world, how the calls apply to us. Yes. Got you.

[00:11:54]On that note, we're just going to take a brief sponsorship break. Please stay with us, folks. We're going to be right back. Introducing Pacific Coast Capital, your partner in finance.

[00:12:04]We provide financing for your business.

[00:12:06]>> [music] >> Speed, flexibility, and creativity are the foundation of our service.

[00:12:11]We'll help you navigate through change and opportunities.

[00:12:14]Our 90-plus [music] years of experience ensures quick turnaround on loan decisions.

[00:12:19]Ride the wave to prosperity with us.

[00:12:21]Ready for new funding?

[00:12:23]Visit our website today at pacificcoastcap.com.

[00:12:31]Hello, everyone. Welcome back to our program, and I'd like to welcome back our guest today from F B H A. I'll mention it for those that just tuning in, Firefighter Behavioral Health Association.

[00:12:43]>> Alliance. Alliance. Sorry. No, no problem. And Jeff Dill. So, thanks for taking time and telling us the important work you're doing for our firefighters, and by extension our first responders, too. Not just in the firefighting world.

[00:12:57]Um I'd like to talk a little bit now.

[00:13:01]You've got so many workshops going on, and they all look great workshops. So, let's talk about the one that seems to be very important is PTSD versus moral injury. So, could you talk about that workshop?

[00:13:14]>> Absolutely. And I'm a firm believer and wherever I speak, I was just up in Canada last week, is that I'm a firm believer that we lose more of our firefighters, in particular first responders to by suicide due to moral injury.

[00:13:34]And so we I I did a lot of research after a couple firefighters brought that attention to me. And we knew about it in the clinician world way back when, but it's not in the DSM-5, the diagnostic statistics manual that clinicians use for diagnosis and treatment. So it's not in there.

[00:13:51]And so I did a lot of research. I spoke to the Shay Foundation. Dr. Shay is the person who coined the phrase back in the '80s and '90s when he was working with the military in regard to Vietnam veterans coming back. And so I we decided I decided to do a white paper on moral injury, wounds of the spirit, in the fire service. And so to give you a quick summary of what we found is that Dr. Shay believes that inherently as human beings were born to do good. Help others. And then you get into the first responder world, especially fire EMS because that's my strength in that area.

[00:14:32]I was a medic for many years. We're trained to save lives.

[00:14:36]And but over time, over the last like 3 years when in all my travels, I've traveled about 1.6 million miles across the US and Canada speaking the last 12 years or so.

[00:14:46]Over the last 3 years I would ask my brothers and sisters, what do you think our save rate is? By the time we get there for the full arrest, the drowning, the vehicle accident, those that have tried to take their life or completed, what's our actual save rate? And we came to a consensus among thousands of first responders about 5 to 8%. So with all the training that we do, and to say that we actually lose 95% of the people that we're working on is is very difficult.

[00:15:14]So of that we start feeling a lot of emotions.

[00:15:20]And whereas PTSD is trauma-based, fear-based, moral injury is emotional-based.

[00:15:26]Whatever that is, that guilt, jealousy, rejection. And one of the key aspects of moral injury is betrayal.

[00:15:34]Betrayal by management. Oh, you promised us better pay, you promised us better equipment, less overtime, hiring more people. Or betrayal by others that you work with. Say it's job promotion time and you've known your brothers and sisters for 15, 20 years and then they start saying rumors about you to make themselves look better for the promotional process. Or maybe someone in the department was harassing or sexually harassing a member of the department.

[00:16:03]Or maybe betrayal by ourselves.

[00:16:06]Why didn't I say something when I saw one of my brothers or sisters being harassed? Or why did I go out and have an affair and ruin my relationship with my spouse, partner, and my children? So, that like I said, that leads to those human emotions of guilt, shame, rejection, failure to do good. And so, I I spoke with the military as well and I asked them, I said about the moral injury and they said, "Actually Jeff, you can have PTSD and moral injury at the same time."

[00:16:33]The problem is it's two different types of approaches for therapy.

[00:16:38]And so, I looked at my data of the 2,330 plus losses of my brothers and sisters and I found over 40 of my brothers and sisters who went to inpatient facilities and when they came out, they still ended up taking their lives. And it just made me think, was it because the PTS or the depression or the addictions was approached during their inpatient, but no one knew about the moral injury aspects, the emotional. And I based our white paper on the data that we collect and we know with me speaking to about 2,300 of my chief officers or families, the number one known reason. Unknown is number one. Something you know, the chiefs or families just don't know why their loved one took their lives. But the number one known by far was relationships.

[00:17:27]Work relationships or personal relationships.

[00:17:30]And so when I asked the military about their data and they said by far we lost more soldiers to moral injury than post traumatic stress.

[00:17:41]And so that's why we decided to do the white paper and it was and you and people can download it for free off our webpage.

[00:17:49]But so I that's probably our most in demand workshop across the the US Canada is PTSD versus moral injury. And especially for clinicians too. So they know how to apply it to what our world is all about. Okay.

[00:18:06]So >> Sounds very comprehensive and a lot of research done and boy you've certainly raised awareness of a lot of issues that uh the late person A lot of even with us in the fire service too.

[00:18:18]The same thing. Well, we never heard of moral injury. How does that apply?

[00:18:22]>> Yes. So it's because if you ask people even society first responder, oh you're a firefighter, police officer, dispatcher, paramedic, they'll say oh PTSD, PTSD. Well, that's not what's killing us in our data. So moral injury is and the human connection to people.

[00:18:40]Now you said that it's your most popular workshop. Right. Well attended most well attended at Yes. How often do you have these workshops and are they done online and people zoom into a zoom meeting? Is that how they work or >> It's a combination of both. You know, you're either I'm asked to speak at conferences like up in Canada, we're out in St. Louis recently. I'm coming up I have Missouri three times, Detroit in that area. I'm going to Colorado in August, September I'm in Sacramento. So, it just departments or conferences call us up and say, "Hey Jeff, can you come out and speak?" And so, that's what we're doing.

[00:19:22]In fact, we're actually even doing a first responder cruise in December. Oh, cool.

[00:19:28]>> So, first responder. So, I like that idea because it's concentrated. I can work with first responders that are on that cruise for the behavioral health component of that cruise.

[00:19:38]>> Yes. So.

[00:19:39]Now, do you have workshops um people to initiate organizations similar to well, basically doing what you're doing in different states where they can go and do those presentations?

[00:19:54]>> No, everything we we don't have I I heard you mention chapters. Yes, we're nationwide, but we don't have chapters assigned. So, what happens is the fire departments contact us and say, "Hey, can you come out to Ohio or New Jersey or New Mexico to come out?"

[00:20:10]We were just contacted by a wildland organization down in Florida. So, we're setting up that date as well. So, people contact us and then I just I jet set off. Okay. And but then when you speak at these conferences, can they can then get back in touch with you? [clears throat] >> Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And I tell conferences can run anywhere from 100 and 900. Yes.

[00:20:35]>> Now, when fire departments or dispatch companies or EMS calls, well, then we're doing it for that specific organization.

[00:20:42]Or they might open the door up to neighboring towns as well. So, it could be anywhere from 25 to 100 that I speak at. So, which which I like too because it's very direct and very comfortable.

[00:20:53]It's in a firehouse and it's it's my setting that I'm I'm familiar with. So.

[00:20:58]You've got your own comfort level there.

[00:20:59]>> Absolutely.

[00:21:01]So, okay. Let's you you've got several workshops. Um Another one's internal size up. Yes. And and it's a great one. Internal size up.

[00:21:13]I I absolutely love it. Do we have time to talk about that real quick?

[00:21:16]>> Absolutely. Absolutely.

[00:21:16]>> Okay, so I We've got plenty of time. My first four workshops ever were for the Philadelphia Fire Department. And I I will never forget walking in and seeing about a hundred Philly firefighters. And I said, "Well, I'll be talking about, you know, PTS and relationships, addictions, and suicide." I'd never seen a hundred people shifting in their chairs all at once. It was I thought, "Oh my lord, what did I walk myself into?"

[00:21:41]But, you know, we had some components, uh beliefs. Be direct, challenge with compassion when you see our brother and sister that might be in distress. And another one was internal size up. And what that means is it was based on when we approach a fire scene, we ask the first engine in, "Hey, give me a a size up of what you see." Well, two-story residential, heavy flame showing from the A sector. We'll be taking a hose line, we're going on offensive, meaning going into the building. So, we're giving a size up for everyone that's coming into the scene to know what we got. So, I was a battalion chief at the time and I I was at Philadelphia report, and all of a sudden it just dawned on me, "Why can't we do an internal size up?" And what that means is that everyone, not only the first responder world, but everyone should ask themselves two questions every day. Why am I acting this way? Why am I feeling this way? And the best thing that we can do is listen to others because they see us better than we will ever see ourselves. My wife and I, we've been married 45 and a half years. She knows my tone of Thank you.

[00:22:44]She knows my tone of voice, my body language. So, I've learned to listen to her when she says, "Hey, you're you're acting awful ornery today" or something.

[00:22:51]>> [laughter] >> And so, but we also have to learn to listen to our own bodies when we start noticing, "Hey, we're we're a little angry today" or we're maybe sleeping too much, we're depressed, uh we're not uh sleeping well at all at night. It's our body saying, "Hey, it's time to get help." And so, you know, doing that internal size-up.

[00:23:11]And people can do it together at night, uh loved ones, to say, "Hey, what emotions did I show today? How did it affect you? And what can we do to work it out for the future to make it uh a little less uh argumentative. So, and and then listen to your spouse or partner as well to what emotions they might have been experiencing that day.

[00:23:32]Sage sage counsel, very wise counsel there.

[00:23:36]And you have a workshop um a Firefighter's Life. Yes.

[00:23:42]Uh that was one of our first one that came out under Counseling Services for Firefighters back in 2009. And of course, it's been, you know, changed throughout the years, but that is the one for the clinicians and the chaplains. And and and I love doing that one because, you know, in the fire service first responders around the world, we always had a wall. On this side were the first responders, and on that side were the chaplains and counselors. And anyone that went from the first responder side, we always considered, "Oh, they're weak. They they can't do the job and things." So, by getting [clears throat] my master's degree and becoming a licensed counselor, I knew both sides of the wall. So, I love teaching my brothers and sisters in the clinician world as well. And and just little things, >> [clears throat] >> we'll go through moral injury and all those issues, but like calling rigs the right name.

[00:24:29]People will say, "Oh, there's a fire truck." Well, actually, that's an engine.

[00:24:33]You know, an engines have ladders on the side, where a fire truck has ladders on top. So, now, when you're working with a first responder, because we're very particular, I Oh, yeah, I ride an engine, I ride a truck, I ride a squad, or something. We we like that. That we take ownership of that. And so, now as a clinician or a chaplain, you could say, "Oh, you ride an engine." Now you know what an engine is. It's the one that goes into the fire, initial fire, and does attack and rescue. So, those little things, but we also talk about moral injury addictions and the suicide data, all those things. Now, do you go across the country I do. giving these uh courses as well? I I do and >> and collaborate them where if you're in one city, you'll do the five fighters life and the moral injury one two different nights in the same city.

[00:25:18]>> Absolutely. Or we ask uh the departments or conferences to bring in your clinicians and chaplains. Bring in your board of directors, if you're a district, or your mayor, or whoever, to bring them in to understand what your people are dealing with in today's world. And it it's a different world. Yes. A lot different. There's a lot more anger out there, a lot more mass casualty incidences. So, all those affect us both emotionally as well as traumatically. Of course.

[00:25:47]Going to take another sponsorship break.

[00:25:49]Please stay with us, folks. We're going to be back in a few moments uh with Jeff Dill.

[00:25:54]Tariffs, pandemics, rising inflation.

[00:25:57]The Joshua Dowden team is ready when volatility happens. Markets fluctuate for reasons nobody can control. Don't let the headlines drive your financial plan. The Joshua Dowden team at Priority Wealth Partners has served Summerlin retirees for three decades. [music] Our five-tier risk management strategy matches our strategies with your goals with plans designed for your assets to be there when [music] you need them.

[00:26:17]Conveniently located at the heart of downtown Summerlin. Call Joshua Dowden today or visit dowdenfinancialservices.com.

[00:26:51]>> [music] >> Welcome back everyone. I'd like to welcome back Jeff Dill, founder of FBH.

[00:27:10]Thanks again for taking the time and telling us all about your organization.

[00:27:14]It's a wonderful You've really plugged up a huge hole here helping those first responders that are dealing with suicidal tendencies and educating the public and what you do. I appreciate it.

[00:27:26]>> they do. Now you also have another workshop called Keeping Tabs. Correct.

[00:27:32]Let's talk about that one. TABS.

[00:27:36]Yeah, it it comes together because I love working with children kids and children. I've written a couple children's books and things like that.

[00:27:46]So it came about starting to really understand what the children of first responders suicides, what they're speaking, their emotions. And so I put together a workshop called Keeping Tabs, Together Against Bullying and Suicide in the schools. And we've presented that to a few schools across the United States and it's it's very endearing for me to see the faces of those children because it seems like I can read some of those that can relate to how they're being isolated or bullying within the schools and and we know suicides are increasing in our children across the United States. So it's near and dear to me that one as well. Yes.

[00:28:33]It's a nice program to have.

[00:28:35]And are your books available on Amazon?

[00:28:38]>> Yes, I have Pike the Pig. It's it's for kindergarten to second grade.

[00:28:43]It's just it has some moral to the story of how we should treat others and things. So, >> Yes. and then we have a FBHA book being released in August as well. All right.

[00:28:54]>> Primary Search. And it talks a little bit about FBHA, but also it we interviewed a good friend of mine who helped me write the book, Blake Tanner.

[00:29:04]We interviewed family members that have lost loved ones to suicide. Very very powerful stories.

[00:29:12]Good book to bring out.

[00:29:14]Uh like to talk to you more about that when we have some time. Um scholarships you have some scholarships. How many scholarships do you have?

[00:29:24]>> We only have a couple because, you know, we we're not a big organization. We don't have a lot of funding, but we did just last week award a $1,000 scholarship to a spouse of a firefighter who took his life. And she had gone back to school, and she wrote us a filled out the application and and wrote us a very endearing. And so, that was the only one we got in the first part of the year.

[00:29:46]So, we awarded that $1,000 to help her for books and things.

[00:29:50]>> Nice. Yeah.

[00:29:52]That's nice. Um Now, you talked about you're not a big organization. How are you actually funded? Do you have any government grants or No.

[00:30:02]>> corporate grants or anything like that?

[00:30:04]>> a challenge to get those because they're they're looking for Well, show us how what you do works or and let me give you the quickest the best example being the fire service. If I was an organization I said I want to put smoke detectors in 20,000 houses in our community. I could show that I went out and did that. But because I've traveled like 1.6 million miles, we don't get too many people that are going to stand up in the middle of our workshops and say, "Jeff, because I'm here today, I'm not going to go home and take my life." And even when people send us emails and say, "Thank you for finding me a counselor or putting us in an inpatient facility is confidential. So, I'm not going to use that No.

[00:30:46]>> just to get grants. And And it's tough for me just based on the way I was raised by my parents, wonderful parents, they're still alive, Alan and Corrine Dill. Uh they're 92 and 87, they've been married 68 years.

[00:30:57]>> Oh, bless their hearts.

[00:30:58]>> And so, uh it's hard for me to ask for money based on the deaths of my brothers and sisters. And so, uh you know, that that becomes a problem. So, like I said, it It's difficult for me to ask for funding based on the deaths of my brothers and sisters, but uh I I do know we need funding and we don't We get some uh minor donations here or there, $1,000 here or something from some minor organization.

[00:31:25]Uh but, we unfortunately I have to charge for our workshops. Not a lot, a 2-hour workshop is $1,500 plus expenses, but we I I use that to raise the money for uh those left behind, our annual weekend retreat, which cost us a a lot of money in in that aspect. But, it's well worth it. It's well worth it.

[00:31:46]>> Well, given the number of people that you're educating at your workshops, you said sometimes up to uh >> 900 or something.

[00:31:52]>> 900. I mean, 1,500 bucks isn't much when you consider that 900 people are being educated.

[00:31:59]>> We've We've only had one paying raise in in all our um years, meaning the amount we charge for our workshops.

[00:32:08]So, we've we try to keep it low but as low as we can so that we can bring that message. And that message is from our brothers and sisters. And the thousands and upon thousands of men and women I've spoken to. So, that's that's their message. I don't pull the our workshops, I don't pull things off the internet. So, it's And from their families as well. So, it's very very powerful message from this.

[00:32:30]>> And personal experience from those families. Well, right. And And then plus my 37 years in the fire service. So.

[00:32:38]>> Now, you do actually have a fundraiser coming up in October. Yes. I know it's a long way off, but would you like to tell us a little bit about it?

[00:32:44]>> Well, absolutely. And we're looking forward to it.

[00:32:49]Ben Spinelli, who runs the Italian American Club on Sahara. We my wife and I we frequent there many times for their dinner shows and things. We absolutely love there. We approached them to say, "Hey, we'd like to do a fundraiser for FPHA." And he said, "Oh, absolutely." He said, you know, he knows my wife and me very well. And so on October 14th, we will have a lineup of well-known Las Vegas entertainers. We'll be singing two or three songs each.

[00:33:17]You will get a spaghetti dinner and meatballs and a piece of cake and things. So, we're looking forward to that. So, if people just go to our webpage, we'll be pushing all that out sometime in June or July for tickets to be purchased. But save the date. October 14th. At the Italian American Club. Come out for some great entertainment. A silent auction we'll have. So, it should be a a great night. I'm sure it will be.

[00:33:45]And and for good cause, too. An extremely good cause. Extremely good cause.

[00:33:51]Um What volunteer opportunities are there if most organizations looking for volunteers?

[00:33:59]What kind of volunteers Where Where do you need help in your organization from a volunteer perspective?

[00:34:04]>> Well, I would think a lot of it is is just to maybe if someone out there knew how to do some fundraising and things. I mean, my wife's disabled and so it's it she runs FPHA. About 95% of FPHA is run by my wife, Karen. But for her to get around and do things, it's very difficult for her. And plus she's like me. It's very difficult for us to ask for donations or items, especially for our silent an item uh for October.

[00:34:34]There's a That's a talent. And And people don't realize how talented those people are. They have that ability to connect with donors and talk to them about organizations such as ours. And uh so we we always look for volunteers who could do those type of things uh or maybe send out um you know, media information and write things. I speak and write from the heart, so it's very difficult for me to write anything professional. Uh so So, you know, we're always looking for some type of volunteers and they and they can always contact me or my wife. Okay.

[00:35:05]Well, at that point in time, uh would you care to share with us your volunteer information, your website, >> Sure. Absolutely.

[00:35:11]>> phone number, any contact information where people >> Absolutely. Uh so, you can contact Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance.

[00:35:18]If you want to look at our webpage first, it's www.ff, like firefighter, ffb as in bravo, hha.org. So, ffbha.org.

[00:35:29]And uh there you have all our contact information. Uh my uh my contact information's on there, which is my cell phone at 847 209-8208.

[00:35:41]And uh hopefully uh you know, you'll like what you see. And if you're struggling out there, especially a first responder, brother, sister, or family member, please do not hesitate to to call or contact us.

[00:35:55]We'll get you that help. So, and uh I want to say I appreciate uh being on your show here today. It is a great honor and and these type of things help us. And so, thank you so very much Thank you, Jack, for coming. It's been a pleasure and thanks for what you are doing for uh the firefighters, first responders, not only in our community, but throughout the United States. You're providing a great service and >> Thank you. uh hopefully changing some people's whose minds are tempted towards suicide. Hopefully, you're changing their perspective.

[00:36:29]I'd also like to thank our show's producer and station owner, John Styles at WWDBTV.

[00:36:37]And certainly we wouldn't have a show without our sponsors.

[00:36:41]They are Pacific Coast Capital, Priority Wealth Partners, the Firelight Barn, and my late business partner, Ralph John Champion, whose legacy lives on through this program.

[00:36:52]You'll hear his message right at the end.

[00:36:55]And finally, I'd like to thank you, the viewers, for tuning in. I hope you've enjoyed this program. I hope you'll find it informative. And I hope you'll find some way of supporting our first responders who are contemplating suicide. They need your support. This organization could use your support, volunteers, donations that you care to give.

[00:37:16]Uh it would be greatly appreciated.

[00:37:19]Uh if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me, Stephen at the giftofgiving.vegas.

[00:37:25]Love to hear from you.

[00:37:27]In the meantime, please stay safe, be kind to one another, and see you back soon. Bye for now.

[00:37:34]Mr. R.J. Champion is proud to sponsor WWDBTV series, The Gift of Giving, and wishes the program much success.

[00:37:44]Congratulations and gratitude to the featured guests and the organizations they represent.

[00:37:49]Our community is well served by your tireless efforts to make Nevada a better state for all its residents.