Mom inspires daughters to become firefighters
The Drake family’s roots in volunteerism run deep in Montgomery County, all thanks to mom and grandmother. Nicole Drake, mother of four daughters, volunteers alongside her mom at Ladies Auxiliary of the Worcester Volunteer Fire Company, as does her husband. Two of her four daughters, Emily and Hayley, are now active members with the company.
Nicole started volunteering as a member of the Ladies Auxiliary 11 years ago and is now the president. The Ladies Auxiliary hosts fundraising events such as flower sales, flea markets, hoagie sales and craft fairs to assist the Worcester Township Fire Company with critical, life-saving equipment purchases.
“We help with fundraising, but recently we’ve shifted our focus on community engagement. The goal is to connect with our neighbors and show them who the people responding to their emergency calls are,” said Nicole.
Community events such as Trunk or Treat, Community Day and the Santa Run give residents the opportunity to come out and
meet their neighbors — the volunteers at Worcester Fire Company that help in an emergency situation such as a vehicle crash or fire.
“Our kids grew up waiting on our stoop to watch Santa wave from the fire truck and I always brought them to community events I helped out at,” said Nicole.
From toddler age to adulthood, Nicole has volunteered at many Montgomery County organizations with her mom. Nicole’s mom instilled volunteering in her and her sister as a young age and
now Nicole is passing it on to her daughters.
The Drake sisters began volunteering at age 14, as cadets. Natalie, age 17, is now a junior firefighter, while Ashley, age 15, is still a cadet. Emily and Hayley, now adults, are training to fight interior fires.
“We’ve always felt super close to the fire company because of our mom,” said Emily. “As soon my sisters and I became old enough to volunteer, we jumped on the opportunity to join and we’ve already learned so much.”
At Worcester Fire Company, teenagers 14 and 15 years old can volunteer as cadets, and those 16 and 17 years old can volunteer as junior firefighters. Cadets and junior members respond to emergency calls and assist with exterior ground work in a supervised capacity. They participate in department events and drills. At 18, volunteers can take their Firefighter I test to become active firefighters and fight interior fires.
“I love volunteering with my family because we all have different skill sets to piggy back off each other, whether we’re running a call, participating in a drill or working at a community event,” said Emily.
Fire companies in Montgomery County are looking for volunteers, regardless of their background or skillset to assist on emergency calls or help with community events. Volunteer opportunities include: firefighter, junior firefighter, fire police, EMT and administrative member.
“Our slogan says it all: We are ordinary people, trained for the extraordinary, and we have opportunities for everyone who’s interested, right in their own