Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC joins insurance commissioner to build rural fire houses

Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC - Fire truck in fire station

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey worked with the insurer to pay for the building construction.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC and the state’s insurance commissioner, Mike Causey, joined together to help fund the construction of rural fire house in the state.

The commissioner is seeking to improve the rural fire department quality as a whole.

Causey has taken on the project to help the state’s rural fire departments to return to better health. Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC joined him in helping to finance the effort, and he has personally delivered the checks to those locations, including some in the western mountains.

These funds have arrived at a particularly critical time due to the pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis has made it even more challenging to obtain the necessary funding for projects such as building or renovating rural fire department locations. This was why the largest health insurance company in the state decided to step in to help pay for the much-needed construction.

Causey has been delivering the partly Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC funded checks all week.

The insurance commissioner handed over a $5,000 check to the Graham County Volunteer Fire Department last Tuesday. He explained that this type of additional funding was especially important to rural volunteer locations that have especially small sources of financing and struggle to function without added assistance.

“They struggle to recruit volunteers and to retain volunteers, and they really need funding,” explained Causey. “Because of coronavirus, the fundraising just dried up,” he added. “So, this has come at a really good time.”

The partnership between the insurance commissioner’s office and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina is for a total of $500,000 in grant money. Those funds will be distributed among 100 rural fire departments. It is focused primarily on locations that don’t typically receive substantial funding from the government and that are typically heavily reliant on fundraisers for their existence.

State Representative Kevin Corbin expressed his gratitude for the attention from the insurance commissioner and Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC to places in his Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC - Fire truck in fire stationdistrict such as Graham County, where the need is greatest. “Thank you for not only listening to us here in the west, but coming out here,” said Corbin.

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