It’s always a special occasion when businesses work together to make the community a safer place. On Wednesday, July 26 several members of the Larson-Danielson Construction team headed out to the MAAC Foundation’s First Responder Training Campus to present the MAAC team with a $10,000 check meant to help the MAAC further its mission of providing high-quality training to our community’s first responders.
Larson-Danielson and the MAAC have been partners ever since the MAAC was founded seven years ago. For years, the two entities have worked together to build the First Responders Training Campus, a 30-acre campus for our local fire, police, EMT, and SWAT teams to train and hone their skills so they can serve our communities with even greater confidence.
“Larson-Danielson Construction has been a stellar partner. It is because of support like theirs and the generosity of so many people throughout our community that we’ve been able to build out this 30-acre campus for our first responders to utilize at no cost to them or their agencies and support them in their quest of serving our communities,” said Celina Weatherwax, CEO of the MAAC Foundation.
The Larson-Danielson team has always been committed to giving back to organizations that do good for the community, so when they had the opportunity to give a little extra back to the MAAC, they jumped on it without hesitation.
“The MAAC Foundation is close to all of our hearts because of how much it gives back to the community. The fact that it trains people in the area and enables them to save lives is really important to us. If we can help in any way that’s what we’re going to do,” said Robin Witte, lead architect for Facet Architecture, Larson-Danielson’s sister architectural group.
Witte explained how businesses have an obligation to support organizations that aid our community’s first responders.
“It’s vital for the businesses in our community to support organizations like the MAAC. If there’s a fire at a business, that business is going to be dependent on the fire department to come out and help save their facility and employees’ lives. The fact that the MAAC supports all of our first responders means that it affects all of us. The MAAC team ensures that we have a safe community to live in; it’s our job to work together to support them and build our community up,” said Witte.
The MAAC plans to use the $10,000 to create more training spaces on the First Responder Training campus as well as purchase the equipment and tools needed for several new programs.
“Training spaces allow all of our different first responders to come together and work collaboratively. Training is huge in encouraging them to maintain open communication when they’re in the field, become more proficient in their skill sets, and better serve our communities,” said Weatherwax.
After Larson-Danielson presented the MAAC with the check, the two teams sat down together to develop the next phase of their partnership in which Larson-Danielson will build the MAAC a 50,000-square-foot indoor training facility. The facility will contain a replica downtown community called Bedford Falls U.S.A that will be used to simulate real-life situations. Each little building will hold even more training spaces for our first responders.
“I really love seeing how they use the facilities in interesting ways. We’ve built them all kinds of tactical areas and replica neighborhoods and houses--it’s just fun to see all of the fire, swat SWAT, and police teams practice and learn in these spaces and get better at what they do,” said Witte.
Overall, the partnership between Larson-Danielson and the MAAC demonstrates how much good can happen when people come together with a common purpose. The MAAC team is grateful for everything Larson-Danielson has done for them and hopes their partnership will allow them to keep providing our first responders with the support they deserve.
“We are so grateful not only to Larson-Danielson Construction for being such a strong partner, but also for all of the first responders that give so much of their lives to protect our community. They drive us every day to be on top of our game and it’s my hope that this campus continues to grow and the momentum to expand continues beyond what we’ve ever dreamed,” said Weatherwax.
To learn more about Larson-Danielson Construction and its commitment to its partners, visit https://www.ldconstruction.com/.