Mission of Love founder and director Kathy Price, left, collected more than 500 pieces of used fire gear from local fire departments for Ukraine war efforts. Lowellville, Austintown, Howland and Struthers fire departments all answered the call when Price reached out to Austintown Chief Andy Frost asking for donations of out-of-service gear to deliver to towns and cities throughout Ukraine.

The brotherhood of firefighters knows no borders, and several local fire departments are proving just how strong that universal bond is by donating gear to aid war efforts in Ukraine.

“When we say it’s a brotherhood, we mean it,” Lowellville fire Chief Al Boggia said.

Lowellville, Austintown, Howland and Struthers fire departments all answered the call when Mission of Love’s director and founder Kathy Price reached out to Austintown Chief Andy Frost asking for donations of out-of-service gear. Frost reached out to the other departments, and now more than 500 pieces of gear, including turn-out jackets, boots, air tanks and packs and face masks, are sitting in Mission of Love’s warehouse waiting to be shipped.

Frost said Ukraine is currently desperate for fire gear as most of it was destroyed in Russian attacks.

“They’re in desperate need, a lot of theirs was already destroyed, and they have citizens fighting fires and they want to put them in something,” Frost said during a recent trustees meeting. “I think this is a really good fit.”

National Fire Protection Association Standard 1851, the standard that establishes requirements for the selection, care and maintenance of structural firefighting protective clothing and equipment, dictates gear that is 10 years past its manufacture date should be retired. All 500 pieces of equipment can no longer be used by departments in the U.S., and usually it either is destroyed or donated to other countries, according to Frost.

Boggia said there is nothing really wrong with the gear, and it still works fine. He said the only reason his guys are not still wearing it is that several departments received FEMA grants to buy new gear.

“We have backup gear and everything, but you don’t want an excess as well, so if somebody can use it — and we all know they need it, without a doubt they need it,” Boggia said. “My guys were happy to do it.”

Price has been donating supplies to Ukraine over the last five weeks. She said the situation in Ukraine is “heartbreaking,” and she’s just doing what she has always done.

“I have no control, I have no input. All I can do is help wherever I can,” Price said. “We’re not here to save the world — but we are here to touch the hands and hearts that are within our reach.”

Price has collected and donated old fire gear for all 35 years of Mission of Love’s operation. When two Ukrainian-American volunteers, Alec and Olec, came to pick up a shipment of donations and commented on how useful some fire gear in her warehouse would be in Ukraine, she set off on a mission.

“They looked at it and said, ‘Oh my god, we surely can use this. Can we buy it? We can’t buy it anywhere,'” Price said. ” And I said ‘No, you can just have it.’ So with that, I realized the need was so great.”

Price reached out to Frost and got the ball rolling, and she was picking up fire gear at each department within the next week. When Alec and Olec came to pick up other relief supplies from the warehouse, they opened a few of the boxes the fire departments gave to Price. She recorded the unloading and captured a moment when Alec turned and spoke directly into the camera.

“God bless the firefighters who have given this to us because you are saving the lives of your brothers in another country,” Alec said.

lnickel@tribtoday.com