State Fire Marshal Causey to honor Eagle Scout candidate who raised money for local volunteer fire department

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey on Monday will honor a 17-year-old Eagle Scout candidate whose efforts to raise $2,500 to buy turnout gear for one firefighter ballooned into enough money to outfit the entire volunteer fire department.

Commissioner Causey, who is also the State Fire Marshal, will present matching grant checks to eight Edgecombe County volunteer fire departments during a visit to Tarboro.

The presentations will take place during a 7 p.m. meeting of the Edgecombe County Commissioners.

Will Wooten, a rising senior at Rocky Mount Academy and a member of Boy Scout Troop 5 sponsored by First United Methodist Church, learned last winter that his local fire department, the Heartsease Volunteer Fire Department, was having some difficult times financially. He decided to focus on helping the fire department as his Eagle Scout project.

Fire Chief James Bowen and Edgecombe County EMS Director Mark Walters told Wooten that replacing the turnout gear that firefighters wear on fire calls was one of the many needs of the department.

Wooten set a goal of raising $2,500 to replace one set of turnout gear for the fire department, along with landscaping the area around the department’s flagpole and building. With the help of fellow Scouts, family members and friends, he launched an effort to raise the money by selling doughnuts and hosting a car wash in Tarboro.

More than 300 people showed up to buy doughnuts, get their car washed or otherwise donate to the cause. When all the money was raised, Wooten was able to donate more than $22,000 to the department, enough to replace turnout gear for the entire fire station.

Commissioner Causey will honor Wooten’s efforts by presenting him with the Commissioner’s Award during Monday’s meeting.

In addition, Commissioner Causey will present ceremonial grant checks totaling more than $175,000 to eight volunteer fire departments. They are the Conetoe, Heartsease, Leggett, Lewis Community, Pinetops, Princeville, Speed and West Edgecombe volunteer fire departments.

The awards are part of a statewide matching grant program providing more than $9.8 million to 554 volunteer fire departments.

Here is Commissioner Causey’s public schedule for Monday: