Images of Impact: The Work of Jared's Keepers Foundation, Inc in Photos

 The Firefighters Postal Lake Club was originally known as the Lake Springfield Postal Club which officially opened in 1948.  Construction on the Postal Club began in the early 1940's by a group of post office employees who donated over 50,000 hours on evenings and weekends to complete the building.  The tools and equipment were much different in those days. A team of horses and a slide bucket were used to dig out the basement. There were no cranes to lift trusses and other heavy building materials. Total construction cost was approximately $15,000.

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Over the years, the Postal Club invited new members to join with the idea of expanding the membership to include those with the skills necessary to maintain the club.  Many of those new members were trade workers including plumbers and electricians.  In 2005, there were only two of the original Postal Club members remaining.

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In 2000, the Postal Club membership numbers were falling and eventually a merger with Firefighters Local #37 took place and created the Firefighters Postal Lake Club.  In 2001, the Springfield Fire Department used the original building to conduct several training exercises and eventually burned down the building to begin construction on a new facility.  Construction on the new facility was completed mostly by volunteer hours from members of Local #37 and remaining members of the original Postal Club.  Completed in 2002, total construction cost was estimated at $3.6 million.