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topicnews · October 26, 2024

Amazing but welcome: strippers donate to fire district | Local News

Amazing but welcome: strippers donate to fire district | Local News

Being a good neighbor has paid off in unexpected ways for the Stratmoor Hills Fire Protection District, which received a $30,000 donation to its campaign this week from a strip club across the street.

“The firefighters and the chief there were just great,” said Holly Johnson, regional manager for Go Best Biz, an umbrella company that owns the local strip club Deja Vu Showgirls.

Johnson, who manages the site, said Stratmoor Hills firefighters were a welcome presence just a few hundred feet away. This was particularly true when Deja Vu employees had to report fires caused by the homeless camp behind the club.

She said county firefighters helped the more than 80 women who work at the club feel safe while they waited for police to arrive during camp encounters. They also showed neighborly courtesy.

“The boss will even inform me if there is a package (delivery to the door),” she said.

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For all of these reasons, donating to meet the fundraising goal of the Citizens for the Stratmoor Hills campaign was an easy call for the club, which, along with its parent company, is a prolific philanthropist, Johnson said.

“We like to donate and we like to give back,” she said.







Chief Shawn Bittle and other Stratmoor Hills firefighters put up a new banner featuring the fire department mascot Ember on Wednesday, October 23rd.




Johnson estimates that Go Best anonymously and publicly donates about $3 million a year to various causes. The staff at Deja Vu in Colorado Springs are also frequent donors and recently raised money for a needy student at the school that an artist’s child attends.

Johnson said children’s charities, first responders and veterans organizations are all silent recipients of money from Deja Vu strip clubs in the area.

For the Stratmoor Hills Fire District, the donation was a bit confusing, but still welcome.

“While I don’t advocate for it – it’s a certain type of entertainment that I don’t support – they are a member of our community,” said Shawn Bittle, the county’s fire chief.

The fire district, which covers just 4 square miles, is hoping voters approve a property tax increase to add about $769,000 in funding. Bittle said the county has not increased its mill levy since 2004. He said the district needs upgrades to deal with a 72% increase in call volume over the past two decades.

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If the ballot question passes, the district will be able to add three new full-time firefighters to its six-person staff. The additional funding would also allow Bittle to implement an initiative he calls the “Fourth Seat Program,” which pays half of the rent or mortgage up to $950 to volunteers who agree to work a 24-hour -shift to work per week.

Bittle said the total cost of the program is about $86,000 divided between eight volunteers, which is less than the salary of a full-time firefighter.

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He said the staffing increase, along with equipment upgrades, would help the district respond to more calls. However, Bittle said Stratmoor relied on help from other agencies to respond to 140 calls last year, reducing overall response time.

“We really struggle as an organization to fulfill our mission,” Bittle said.

Kathy Corcoran, treasurer of the Citizens for Stratmoor Hills Firefighters campaign committee, said Deja Vu’s donation more than met the campaign’s funding goals. The donation is approximately ten times what the campaign previously had in its coffers.

In the past week, the committee was able to afford several campaign mailers, large banners and signs, and the services of a professional campaign consultant.

“It’s moving quickly,” she said.

Johnson said that while Deja Vu would donate to charity anyway, the strip club had recently tried to restore its image in the community. The site remodeled its parking lot and exterior last year, adding more lights to the parking lot and making the building “brighter.”

She said Deja Vu’s staff and artists have defied stereotypes since the venue opened in the 1990s.

“It’s a very close-knit group there,” she said. “The people are great.”

Bittle said he is confident voters will see the value of the tax increase.

“They understand that times have changed and things have become more expensive,” he said.

The last of three community information sessions on the ballot question will be held at the fire station, 2160 B St., on Thursday at 7 p.m.

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