Lewis County Chaplaincy Services Auction Seeks Funding for Radios, Uniforms

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Behind the scenes at the Lewis County Jail and responses by police or fire agencies, about 70 members of Lewis County Chaplaincy Services volunteer their time to provide support and guidance both to civilians and first responders.

“Sometimes the emergency responders might feel more comfortable talking to someone who is inside their group but also outside the ... department structure,” said Kevin Curfman, the organization’s founder and board president.

Lewis County Chaplaincy Services has scheduled a fundraising auction for 6 p.m. Friday at Centralia Christian School at 1315 South Tower Ave. in Centralia.

Entrance to the fundraiser costs $10 per person. A table for eight people can be reserved for $64.

Tickets include a bid number, dessert and entertainment.

Lewis County Chaplaincy Services provides three types of service to the county. First, the group oversees ministries and coordinates services at the Lewis County Jail. About 50 volunteers take part in those activities, Curfman said.

Volunteer chaplains also respond with emergency services to incidents such as unexpected deaths or fires to help comfort community members during and after a possibly traumatic experience.

“They have a chaplain there to walk them through the process … and just kind of be with the family,” Curfman said.

Chaplains also help connect victims with services such as the Red Cross to provide continued support.

“The other part of it is to support the emergency responders and help them deal with the trauma they see on different calls,” Curfman said. “We’re working toward getting a chaplain assigned to each department.”

The fundraiser is intended to raise money for pagers and radios used to dispatch chaplains to incidents, tactical jackets to identify the volunteers and training.

Right now, many of the radios are used units from other departments, and they are not always reliable.

“We kind of pick and choose which ones we can make work,” Curfman said.

The group would also like to create a paid executive director position in the near future, he said.