Since its inception in early 2018, the Carney Strong Initiative partnered with the non-profit organization Brothers Helping Brothers for daily operations. Carney Strong Initiative works with several companies to provide occupational cancer prevention materials and supplies to smaller and rural fire departments throughout the country.

In October 2017, Battalion Chief Josh Carney passed away at age 41 from a brief but aggressive battle with Stage 4 Melanoma due to his occupation. To raise awareness of firefighter occupational cancer, his family partnered with Tonya Cronin, founder of Responder Wipes, to launch the Carney Strong Initiative. Working through the non-profit organization Brothers Helping Brothers, the initiative selects one small volunteer, combination, or paid fire department each month to provide firefighters with educational materials and decontamination products.

Initially, the plan for the Carney Strong Initiative was to donate products for a few months and later determine the need for continuation of the program. Due to the overwhelming amount of grant requests from departments across the country, members of Carney Strong have determined that the need for education and support is substantial. Over the course of the past few months, the members have worked diligently to establish the Carney Strong Initiative as a stand-alone non-profit organization separate from Brothers Helping Brothers.

Brothers Helping Brothers provided valuable resources and support since Carney Strong’s inception. Though Brothers Helping Brothers will no longer have a role within the operations of Carney Strong, they will continue to assist with the mission of cancer prevention within the fire service by serving on the Board of Directors. Thus far, this initiative could not have aided as many firefighters and fire departments without their guidance and generosity.

Board of Directors:
Lillian Carney, Executive Director and President
Kristine Munck, Director, Co-Founder, Vice President, Treasurer
Dan Spetland, Director at Large, Secretary
Tonya Cronin, Director at Large, Co-Founder
Nick Magoteaux, Director at Large

For more information, to request a grant, sponsor a department, or to donate to the Carney Strong Initiative, please visit www.carneystrong.org.