St. John’s Episcopal Church sent a little warmth to the Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Department this week with a monetary donation collected by raffling off a quilt.

The Rev. Les Ferguson, the rector of St. John’s, presented a check for $834 to Jerry Saunders, assistant chief at Chuckatuck, and Bill Napier, the fire department’s treasurer, on Thursday.

Ferguson said church members wanted to help the fire department because of its importance in the community.

“A lot of the members of the church have had a connection with the fire department for a while,” he said. “I’m a trained firefighter as part of my Navy training, so I’ve always had a close connection with the fire department in general.”

The St. John’s community raised the money for the fire department by raffling off a quilt that was handmade by Ferguson’s wife, Kathy.

The department plans to use the money to help purchase a new engine, which costs approximately $500,000.

Ferguson said the church sold raffle tickets for $2 each at both of the Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Department’s fish fries, which took place in June and September.

He said he estimates they sold more than 400 tickets and also received a couple of donations.

The quilt, which has several colors, including burgundy and teal, went to Faye Hollowell, who is not a member of St. John’s but bought a raffle ticket after sitting near the quilt at the September fish fry.

“She had figured, ‘I didn’t win it,’ and when I gave her a call and left her a voicemail, she was completely thrilled,” Ferguson said. “She was ecstatic.”

Overall, he said, he is pleased with how the fundraiser went, especially because it was the church’s first time doing this type of event.

Ferguson said he thinks the church will do another fundraiser like this in the future.

“We just have to put our heads together and figure out what we would like to do,” he said.