FIRE 20/20 recently received a commitment from Lion Apparel for $300,000 in support over a three-year period. FIRE 20/20 is a nonprofit research and education organization dedicated to promoting diversity, inclusiveness, safety and excellence in the fire service. Lion Apparel is a provider of fire fighter protective clothing.

According to a release issued by FIRE 20/20, Lion’s contribution will help support a research program designed to gather much needed landmark demographic information. That data will be used to develop a nationally targeted recruitment campaign encouraging young women of all cultures and young men of color to pursue careers in firefighting and emergency medical services.

“This contribution from Lion Apparel is extremely significant because it helps establish a credible statistical baseline,” said Larry Sagen, FIRE 20/20’s executive director. “This research, and the campaign it supports, will be used for the design and development of recruitment tools and strategies that will be available to individual departments in their local and regional recruitments. These efforts will also assist community colleges, fire training academies, and an emerging number of high school magnet public safety programs with their recruitments.”

“Diversity, inclusiveness, and excellence in the fire service has been identified as an important goal by every significant leadership group in the industry,” said Steve Allison, vice president of Lion Apparel Protective Systems Group Americas. “We feel it’s our responsibility as one of the industry’s leading product and service providers to become actively involved.”