HANLEY FALLS – J.P. Pringle is the chief executive officer of the Firemen’s Relief Association for one of the tiniest towns in southwest Minnesota with a fire department, Hanley Falls.

 The Hanley Falls Fire Department has about 22 members most of whom are also active in the relief association. The community-minded things they do with their relief association are often overlooked, said secretary Josh Brusven.

 The HFFD Firemen’s Relief Association is a non-profit organization that has been contributing to the area communities in big ways, firefighter Rob Stengel said.

“The Hanley Falls Fireman’s Relief Association has been going to great lengths to help other organizations thrive in many ways,” Stengel Said.

 The organizations that the HFFRA has been able to donate to comprise area schools, area youth activities and area veterans’ programs.

 Pringle’s favorite part about working with the HFFRA is making donations to youth activities.

 “Without our donations, some of the groups like Hanley Falls youth baseball wouldn’t exist,” Pringle said. “We also contribute to the backpack program (weekend food assistance) at Lakeview School and help pay for the Hanley Falls Fire Hall.”

“We do donate quite a bit to the youth baseball team in Hanley Falls,” Brusven, said, “and have for as long as I remember.”

  The relief association has been around for many years. It started with the support of the local patrons of Hanley Falls and surrounding areas by playing pull-tabs for the past several years.

 “A percentage of the money made has to be given back or donated in certain ways, according to the gaming laws,” Stengel said.

“We have been able to give back to the Hanley Falls Youth activities and organizations since the association was started,” Stengel said. “Fortunately, every year the HFFRA has gotten bigger and better, which means more funds are able to be given back.”

 The HFFRA started off small, only in Hanley Falls, and has grown to where it now expands into the Cottonwood and Granite Falls communities.

The Hanley Falls Fireman’s Relief Association is currently set up at the Hanley Falls Liquor Store, LeRoy’s in Cottonwood, The Golf Course, Granite Falls Bowling Alley and The Rock in Granite Falls.

There they offer pull-tabs, e-tabs, tip boards (pull-tabs with extra prizes like meat bundles) and a variety of raffles.

“It is important to remember that of all the money people use to play, a portion is given back to great organizations such as these listed,” Stengel said.

In the last few years, the association has been able to donate thousands of dollars back to these communities from these fundraising activities, Pringle said.

 In addition to working with all the projects of the HFFRA and conducting monthly relief association meetings, Pringle also makes monthly reports to the Hanley Falls City Council to keep them abreast of the organization’s progress and successes.