Chicora American Legion donates to local emergency services
When members of the Chicora American Legion Post 642 reviewed their financial report a few months ago, they noticed an account with about $4,000. It wasn’t earmarked for anything in particular, Chicora American Legion Post Commander Dave Fleeger said.
The Legion decided to split the amount evenly and donate the money to two local emergency service organizations. They presented two checks in the amount of $2,120.29 to the Chicora Volunteer Fire Department and the Karns City Regional Ambulance Service on Wednesday evening, Sept. 13.
“What better organizations to give it to?” said Fleeger. “We just thought, who can we give it to that benefits the community?”
Mark Lauer, president of the Karns City Regional Ambulance Service, said he was surprised and grateful to learn that Chicora’s Legion Post decided to donate to the ambulance service.
“Any and all of this money, it goes back into the nonprofit side,” Lauer said. He named rent, utilities and staff salaries as areas that benefit from such donations.
The ambulance service covers 11 municipalities; while its first responders receive a lower volume of calls than departments in more commercial places like Cranberry, Lauer said, the emergencies in Karns City and surrounding areas are just as severe.
Paramedics are in high demand and buying critical care equipment doesn’t come cheap, Lauer said. A heart monitor costs around $42,000, he said, and the price of a high-tech, automatic stretcher can be up to $25,000.
He reiterated that he was thankful for seeing the community members and organizations supporting the ambulance service.
“We’re ecstatic about any donation,” Lauer said. “It’s very helpful to us.”
By investing in the ambulance service, the Legion invested in its community.
“It’s their ambulance; it's their service,” Lauer said.
Fleeger noted that local departments like the ambulance service and fire department help build the communities they serve.
Historically, fire departments like the Chicora Volunteer Fire Department bring people together through community-oriented projects and social events, Fleeger said.
“Butler County … is primarily made up of small communities,” Fleeger said. “They have their own identities, their own fire departments … a lot of these communities are built around the fire departments.”
“You can’t live without them,” Fleeger said.
