E. HEMPFIELD TWP., Pa. - They're some of the toughest women you'll meet, balancing a family, a day job, and a volunteer experience that can often feel like a second job.
They're the 'first responder moms' of Lancaster County, and they're calling on their neighbors to join them as volunteers at fire departments and other first responder agencies across the county.
For Jennifer Miller, a single mom to nine-year-old Calvin, it's a logical progression from her paid job as a dispatcher at the Lancaster County 911 Center.
"I work a 12-hour night shift, so I work all night, and then I do all my fire department stuff during the day, so we run on a lot of energy to keep going, but the fire department is very supportive," Jennifer Miller, who volunteers with the Lancaster Township Fire Department, said.
Leslie Fritz, of the Columbia Borough Fire Department, has been a volunteer for more than three decades. It's a family affair for them. Her husband is the fire department's president, and her three children, ages 23, 20 and 13, are either volunteer firefighters already or will be when they're old enough.
"It's not easy," she said. "Over the years, I sort of kind of started out as an active firefighter and then I over the years became more on the fire safety education side."
Fire departments in Lancaster County are not the only ones seeking volunteers.
Nissa Stoltzfus has been volunteering as an EMT with Gordonville EMS for the last four years when she isn't running a carpentry business with her husband or raising four children. She says she came back to the call to serve after completing a project with one of her daughters, who works in the ER at Lancaster General Hospital.
"It's definitely not for everybody," she said. "It's a difficult job, but if you have a passion for people and a passion to help people who are having a difficult time, then yes, it is definitely something to get involved in."
Balancing family life with the volunteer calling to be a first responder is not only doable, but an achievement for these women.
For Tiffany Yorgensen, a stay-at-home mom of five, she has been volunteering with Middle Creek Search and Rescue since 2008.
"It can be difficult at times, between trying to juggle their schedules and training and searches come up whenever, I mean, you can never plan when someone goes missing, so, you know, sometimes you miss different events and family events, but in the end it's all worth it," she said.
Click here for more information on how to volunteer, or call 888-914-JOIN.