Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

Effective date: August 26, 2026

These Terms and Conditions govern the use of shortgapvfc.org and related online services operated for Short Gap Volunteer Fire Company (“Short Gap VFC,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). By accessing or using this website, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the website.

1. Informational Purpose

Website content is provided for general informational purposes and may be changed, corrected, updated, or removed without notice. Although reasonable efforts are made to keep information accurate and current, Short Gap VFC does not warrant that all website content is complete, current, error-free, or available at all times.

Information on this website should not be relied upon as a substitute for instructions from emergency personnel, government authorities, medical professionals, law-enforcement agencies, or other qualified professionals.

2. No Emergency Reporting

This website, its forms, email addresses, and social-media accounts are not emergency reporting or dispatch systems and are not continuously monitored.

For emergencies, call 911.

Submitting a website form, email, social-media message, or other electronic communication does not create a dispatch request and does not guarantee a response.

3. Acceptable Use

You may not use this website to:

• Violate any applicable law or regulation.

• Interfere with website operation or security.

• Attempt unauthorized access to accounts, systems, files, or administrative areas.

• Introduce malicious software, scripts, or harmful code.

• Impersonate another person or organization.

• Submit fraudulent, misleading, abusive, threatening, or unlawful information.

• Circumvent security, rate-limiting, access-control, or anti-spam measures.

• Scrape, copy, or extract restricted information without authorization.

• Misuse Short Gap VFC names, logos, photographs, trademarks, or other identifying materials.

• Use the website in a manner that could interfere with emergency-service operations or public safety.

4. Volunteer-Interest Submissions

Submitting a volunteer-interest form does not constitute a formal membership application, employment application, acceptance into the Company, certification, background-check approval, or promise of membership or placement.

Short Gap VFC may establish and modify eligibility, residency, age, training, attendance, background, conduct, medical, certification, driving, or other membership requirements as permitted by law and department policy.

Additional forms, interviews, records, approvals, training, or background checks may be required before an individual may participate in department activities.

5. Events, Registrations, Tickets, and Fundraisers

Short Gap VFC may conduct events, fundraisers, registrations, ticketed activities, community programs, drawings, raffles, or other activities.

Individual activities may have separate rules concerning:

• Eligibility.

• Dates and times.

• Admission.

• Capacity.

• Age restrictions.

• Geographic restrictions.

• Registration deadlines.

• Drawing procedures.

• Prize eligibility.

• Refunds.

• Transfers.

• Weather.

• Cancellations.

• Conduct.

• Other event-specific requirements.

Rules displayed on an event page, registration page, official rules page, ticket, confirmation, or checkout screen are incorporated into these Terms for that transaction or activity.

Short Gap VFC may modify, postpone, relocate, shorten, suspend, or cancel an event when reasonably necessary because of weather, public-safety conditions, emergency operations, facility issues, government restrictions, staffing, circumstances beyond the Company’s control, or other legitimate operational reasons.

6. Donations

Donations are voluntary gifts intended to support Short Gap VFC and its charitable, emergency-service, equipment, training, facility, community, and operational needs.

Donations are generally final except in circumstances such as duplicate transactions, processing errors, unauthorized transactions, fraud, or another documented situation the Company determines warrants correction.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, no goods, services, benefits, or specific outcomes are promised in exchange for a donation.

Donors are responsible for consulting their own tax adviser concerning tax deductibility or other tax consequences.

7. Panovents and Other Third-Party Platforms

Panovents or another third-party service may provide event listings, ticketing, registration, donation, fundraising, raffle, communication, checkout, or related functionality.

Use of a third-party platform may also be subject to that provider’s own terms, privacy policy, acceptable-use rules, payment requirements, or transaction policies.

Short Gap VFC is responsible only for obligations it expressly undertakes in connection with the applicable event, fundraiser, donation, sale, or activity.

The presence of a third-party service or payment option on the website does not mean that provider sponsors, endorses, administers, approves, or controls Short Gap VFC or the underlying activity.

8. Stripe and Payment Processing

When online payments are enabled, card and other electronic payments may be processed by Stripe or another approved payment processor.

By submitting a payment, you authorize the applicable payment processor, card network, bank, and participating financial institutions to process the amount shown at checkout.

Short Gap VFC does not control:

• Bank authorization or decline decisions.

• Card-network rules.

• Processor availability.

• Processor risk reviews.

• Currency conversion.

• Fraud-screening decisions.

• Settlement timing.

• Banking delays.

Stripe and other payment processors maintain their own prohibited and restricted business categories. Those rules may limit, prohibit, or require additional review or approval for certain fundraising models, raffles, sweepstakes, contests, games of chance, prizes, products, services, or other activities.

Short Gap VFC will make reasonable efforts to comply with applicable payment-processor requirements and may modify, suspend, cancel, postpone, or use another lawful payment method for an activity that a particular processor does not support or no longer permits.

Compliance with state, local, charitable, raffle, gaming, or fundraising law does not by itself establish eligibility to use a particular payment processor.

Likewise, the availability of Stripe or another payment method does not mean that the payment processor sponsors, administers, endorses, controls, guarantees, or approves the underlying fundraiser, raffle, drawing, event, prize, donation campaign, or program.

Users may review the applicable processor’s current prohibited and restricted-business policies directly through that processor.

9. Intellectual Property

Website text, graphics, logos, photographs, videos, layouts, software, code, department identifiers, and other materials may be owned by or licensed to Short Gap VFC, Guidon Creative, photographers, contributors, vendors, or other rights holders.

Except for ordinary personal and noncommercial viewing, materials may not be copied, reproduced, republished, sold, distributed, modified, or used to imply sponsorship or endorsement without appropriate permission.

10. User-Submitted Content

When you submit text, photographs, documents, or other content through the website, you represent that you have the right to submit that material.

You authorize Short Gap VFC to use submitted information as reasonably necessary to:

• Respond to your request.

• Administer the related activity.

• Review volunteer interest.

• Maintain appropriate records.

• Conduct a transaction.

• Protect the Company or its users.

• Publish material when you have specifically requested or authorized publication.

Submitting content does not transfer ownership of intellectual-property rights beyond the permissions reasonably necessary for the applicable purpose.

11. Third-Party Links and Services

This website may contain links to Facebook, Panovents, Stripe, government resources, partner agencies, sponsors, vendors, or other third-party websites and services.

Links are provided for convenience. Short Gap VFC does not control and is not responsible for third-party content, security, availability, products, services, privacy practices, or policies.

12. Disclaimer of Warranties

To the fullest extent permitted by law, this website and its content are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis.

Short Gap VFC makes no warranty regarding uninterrupted availability, accuracy, completeness, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, noninfringement, compatibility, or freedom from harmful components.

Nothing on this website constitutes a guarantee of emergency response, volunteer acceptance, event availability, fundraising results, prize eligibility, or continued availability of any particular service.

13. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Short Gap VFC and its officers, members, volunteers, agents, representatives, vendors, and service providers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or related to:

• Use or inability to use the website.

• Reliance on website content.

• Third-party services.

• Payment-processor actions.

• Event changes or cancellations.

• Lost or corrupted data.

• Unauthorized access.

• Service interruptions.

• Website errors.

• Communications delays.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability where such limitation is prohibited by applicable law.

14. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to be responsible for claims, losses, damages, liabilities, or reasonable expenses arising from your unlawful use of the website, fraud, infringement of another person’s rights, misuse of Company resources, or material violation of these Terms.

15. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of West Virginia, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Any dispute will be brought in a court having lawful jurisdiction over Mineral County, West Virginia, unless applicable law requires otherwise.

16. Changes and Severability

Short Gap VFC may update these Terms by posting a revised version on this website.

If any provision is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in effect to the fullest extent permitted by law.

17. Contact

Questions concerning these Terms may be directed to:

Short Gap Volunteer Fire Company
Station 34
Phone: (304) 726-4388
Email: [email protected]