CRANBERRY TWP — The Cranberry Township Community Chest last week raised nearly $1,300 for its 2015 Project of the Year, which is an initiative to recruit and retain more volunteer firefighters in Butler County.

The Community Chest has been accepting donations since summer for the project. The organization has since raised $361,503 so far.

It hopes to raise at least $500,000 for the project. About $150,000 of that money has already gone to buying two emergency trailers for training, educational and recruiting purposes by all departments in the county.

The rest of the money will go to establishing scholarships at Butler County Community College. Anyone who pledges two years of service to a fire department will be eligible for a scholarship.

The most recent round of donations includes a $250 gift from Jerry Andree, a $200 donating from Pat Boylan, $128 from Scott and Kathleen Decker, $125 from the Bill Halle Foundation, Rick and Carol McClean and Martin and Loretta Chabala, $100 from Mark Homison, $50 from W.A. and D.M. Odenthal, Raymond and Nancy Speicher and Gregory and Lorry Jordan, and $25 from Robert and Ellen Brierly, Raymond and Joanne Melder and Regis and Patricia Kuntz.

The total amount raised last week was $1,278.

Bruce Mazzoni, treasurer of the Community Chest, said the fundraising is winding down, and anyone still interested in donating can do so on the Community Chest’s website at www.ctcchest.org.

“We’re in the final phase of fundraising and we’re starting to prepare all the logos (of county fire departments) and names for the layout on the fire training trailers,” Mazzoni said.