Goshen Ambulance Corps. to Build New Bay with Recycled Bottles

Goshen Ambulance Corps. to Build New Bay with Recycled Bottles
The Goshen Volunteer Ambulance Corps at 7 New St. in Goshen on Sept. 26, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Holly Kellum
10/18/2016
Updated:
10/18/2016

The Goshen Volunteer Ambulance Corps. (GOVAC) is in need of a new home, and some GOVAC members have started raising money for it by collecting bottles and cans with a $0.05 retail value.

GOVAC’s current bay on New Street in the Village of Goshen is believed to have asbestos, and the cost to remediate it would be more than building a new one, said GOVAC President George Lyons.

“Plus the other thing is there’s no parking there, so a lot of times I‘ll come down and do calls and we’ll be boxed in there,” he said.

Because the corps. is not a taxing entity, it gets revenue from taking calls and donations.

As of Oct. 11, GOVAC had collected around $1,800 for its new bay, although not all from returnables, Lyons said. Someone heard about its bottle and can drive and wrote GOVAC a check for $1,000.

Returnables can be dropped off at 7 New St. in Goshen on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

“Every little bit helps,” said Lyons.

While it seems small compared to the cost of buying land and constructing a new building, Lyons said they are doing more calls now, which is also bringing in more revenue.

This means they also need more volunteers to supplement their roughly 18 active members, Lyons said. He estimates he will probably do around 2,000 hours this year, which is 500 hours more than a part-time job.

The combination of the requirements getting more stringent and people having less time has made it harder to find volunteers, a problem besetting a lot of volunteer organizations, Lyons said.

For more information, the GOVAC website is goshenambulance.com and its phone number is 845-294-9695.

To contact this reporter, email [email protected]