The Townsend Area Volunteer Fire Department (TAVFD) depends upon fund-raising activities and contributions for the support of its operations. The TAVFD is not tax supported! Residents and businesses are asked to support the TAVFD by becoming sustaining members. A residential sustaining member is a single household (or cabin) that makes a donation of $75.00 each year.

 

Why should you be a sustaining member?

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In an average year, the TAVFD responds to over 300 calls for fires, accidents, rescues, and medical calls. You never know when one of these calls could be for you.

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If you are a sustaining member, we will do everything we can to help you in handling your emergency. (We will not bill you for any of our costs to do this.)

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If you are not a sustaining member, we will need to bill you to recover our costs of the operation. These costs are normally a minimum of $1,000 and may be substantially more depending upon the resources that must be committed to the emergency. (The resources required will be determined by our officer-in-charge at the time of the incident.)

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Our annual sustaining membership of $75 is a bargain considering that other departments in this and neighboring counties receive over $100 or more for residences in their areas.

 

How do I become a sustaining member?

 

You may become a sustaining member by:

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• Option 1 - Pick up a brochure at TAVFD Station 3 (located at 7002 E Lamar Alexander Pkwy) or download the form here, fill it out, and mail it and your check back to us at the address shown below. Please add your email address to the form if you have one so that we can send your invoice via email from our sustaining membership billing system.

• Option 2 - Use your credit card via a PayPal account. Provide your name and the full property address associated with your sustaining membership subscription on the TAVFD Donate & Support page. Note that if you have additional residences, cabins, etc. you will need to obtain a separate subscription for each property address. (Note: Please ensure that the property address is associated with your Townsend area property and is not, for example, your mailing address in another state.)

• Option 3 - Fill out the form below and submit it. We will enter the information in our sustaining membership billing system and send you an invoice either electronically via email (preferred) or hard copy via US Mail. An example of our new invoice is here.

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• Option 4 - Use your credit card via Stripe. Click on the "Subscription via Stripe" button or scan the "Scan to Pay" QR Code on the TAVFD Donate & Support page. Note that if you have additional residences, cabins, etc. you will need to obtain a separate subscription for each property address. (Note: Please ensure that the property address associated with your Townsend property is entered into Stripe as the shipping address. We must have a record of your property address for our sustaining membership billing system.)

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Additional Information:

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We would highly encourage you to use Option 2, Option 3, or Option 4 for the following reasons:

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• Option 2 - As shown in this example, the TAVFD will automatically have a record of your transaction documented in our PayPal account. You will have a similar record in your PayPal account. After initially subscribing, your credit card will be automatically charged $75 each following year on the same date unless you cancel your subscription. You will have the peace of mind knowing that your sustaining membership will not lapse in subsequent years due to a forgotten or missed payment. If desired, refer to this PayPal page for further information regarding subscriptions.

• Option 3 - This option saves both you and TAVFD time, effort and postage. If you elect to receive invoices by email (highly recommended) you will also be provided a link to view your invoice and account status online (see examples - Dashboard, Invoices, Payments) as well as pay via credit/debit card or PayPal rather than mailing a check. Please note that an online payment will include a processing fee. You may also choose to continue mailing a check.​

• Option 4 - Similar to Option 2, this option allows your subscription to be automatically charged/renewed each year by Stripe on the same date unless you cancel your subscription. You can also access your Stripe account using the button above.

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IMPORTANT NOTE - Existing sustaining members - If you haven't already done so, please email us at sustainingmembership@tavfd.org (and provide us with your name, sustaining membership property address(es), and desired email address) to convert from paper/hard copy invoices to electronic invoices (Option 3). Or you may choose at any time to establish a Paypal subscription (Option 2) or Stripe subscription (Option 4) instead of Option 3.

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