Jerry Crawford and Jarod Lindholm

Showing that volunteering is something that can easily run in the family, Jerry Crawford and Jarod Lindholm, grandfather and grandson, actually come from a family with 4 generations of volunteer fire fighters/rescue crew members. Jerry and Jarod both are members of Kingsport Lifesaving Crew- Jerry has been there 41 years and Jarod has been there for 2 years. Jarod also volunteers part time at Sullivan County Volunteer Fire Department. Both are originally from Kingsport, and both attended Dobyns Bennett High School. Jerry is a retired Maintenance Mechanic with Eastman, and Jarod is in Paramedic School at Northeast State. Jerry is married with 2 children. In their free time they both enjoy outdoor activities like fishing and camping, and are both members of High Ground Baptist Church in Kingsport. Jerry originally got involved with volunteering after an auto accident put him in intensive care for 4 days. It actually turned out that his future father-in-law was one of the people who helped with pulling him from the car that night. As far as Jarod’s entrance into the volunteering life, you could say his family had a lot to do with it- both his mother and uncle are paramedics, as well as Jerry. Their advice to anybody thinking about volunteering is that you need to make sure you have the time to commit to it, willing to put in some hard work, and need to have the right attitude about volunteering- but the best thing of all is that it’s just a fun experience to be a part of.

Adam Delph

When Adam was about 10 years old, the house he was living in caught on fire, and ever since then he has worked at the fire department in some way. Soon after the house fire, Adam began to hang around the local fire station, East Sullivan Volunteer Fire Department, and while he was too young to officially serve, helped out around the station in whatever way possible. He started off just working the radios and opening gates for the trucks when there was a fire until he was 16, and could officially sign up to be a firefighter. He now serves as Capitan, Chairman of the Board, and part of the First Response team at East Sullivan VFD, has been volunteering there for 16 years. Adam is originally from Bristol, Tennessee, and attended Sullivan East High School. He still lives there to this day and is married with 3 boys. He also owns and works at an Embroidery Silk Screen Business in Bristol for his everyday job. In his free time, Adam enjoys playing softball and riding bicycles. He also races dirt bikes, his personal bike being a Honda 450cc, at different events up and down the east coast. Adam says that one of the most important things at the fire department is the trust you have to have in your fellow fire fighters. The bonds that are formed way before the fire happens are what makes safe and successful rescues- when you can trust your fellow firefighters in all situations, everyone can be safer and faster in rescue and firefighting emergencies.

Chris Berry

A 6th and 7th grade social studies teacher for T.A. Dugger Junior High School, Chris is very involved with helping the people around him. He grew up in Piney Flats, Tennessee, and that is still where he currently resides today. Chris attended Sullivan East High School and went on to East Tennessee State University, earning his Bachelor of Arts in History and Education. He volunteers his services at Piney Flats Volunteer Fire Department, where he has been at for 7 years and currently serves as Assistant Chief. Along with teaching and firefighting, Chris also serves as the Missions Coordinator for the church he attends- Edgefield United Methodist Church in Piney Flats. He says that throughout high school he remembers a couple of his friends that volunteered for EMS that originally got his interest in volunteering for some form of rescue service, and when Piney Flats VFD started to do some scouting to recruit people, he was in. The biggest thing that Chris has received from the fire department so far is the brotherhood bonds that form while you are volunteering, and turns into a close group of family. There is a huge commitment that comes with being a volunteer firefighter and it helps when you are making and keeping that commitment with close friends.