Megan Navarro
KYLE — A Hays County-based nonprofit is working to help first responders and their families in times of need.
Founded in 2025 by Kyle firefighter Trent McCarty, alongside other first responders, the Maltese Mission was built on the core values of service, integrity and community. The organization has a shared commitment to help support firefighters within the Kyle Fire Department, but also surrounding agencies, their families and the communities they protect.
This is done through hosting charitable events and fundraisers, with the most recent being the Beat the Heat 5K/5K Bunked Out Relay, held Saturday, Aug. 22, which raised $2,500 for the Maltese Mission.
The organization will also be partnering with the department again to host a haunted house at Station 1 in October, as well as help with the toy drive for Blue Santa during the upcoming holiday season.
Being a first responder on the front lines is “all about brotherhood,” shared McCarty, who has been serving with KFD since December 2018, so the Maltese Mission helps unite and aid that community.
“Whenever you're getting into this profession, you realize very fast that the world's a lot bigger than yourself,” he emphasized. “We find that a lot with our brothers around us, whenever we see them in need. It's not just solely with the fire service. It's with first responders in general. We're all here for each other.”
While the nonprofit is fairly new, the team is already looking ahead for the future of the Maltese Mission. Knowing that it’s vital to continue honing their skills, McCarty said that they want to collect donations through its website specifically for firefighters to attend trainings that otherwise, they may not be able to.
“Another big thing that we're trying to do with this nonprofit is help support firefighters that want to go to trainings that their department, for one, might not be able to afford or just might not be able to. They're already sending multiple people to this training, so they're not able to send anybody to it,” McCarty said. “So, through our website, we're wanting to have an application link and have firefighters around Texas, really, that if they find a training that they like, they can submit an application through our multi-dimensional website and if we have the funds, we can help fund their trainings. Then, also through that website, we can have some links to different trainings that we know about and that we're partnered with.”
The best way to support the Maltese Mission is by supporting financially or spreading the word of what the nonprofit is doing, according to McCarty.
“Any support helps. We are a growing nonprofit and we're wanting to make a big difference. We are not just limited to the fire service,” he concluded. “We want to help really anybody around that needs help, any first responder around that needs help.”
Learn more about the nonprofit at www.themaltesemission.squarespace.com.
