Dear Editor:
In recent months letters of thanks have been published in this newspaper as well as a many others. These letters often thank different entities that have participated in events around our city. Unfortunately the Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps is left out of these thank you letters.
I would like to make our residents aware of the many events we cover as the Emergency Medical Services provider to the City of Hoboken. For the year 2002, they are but not limited to the following: St. Ann’s Feast, Hispanic Festival, The Madonna Society Feast, Spring and Fall Arts & Music Festival, The Masked Ball at New Jersey Transit, July 4th festivities, all Hoboken High School varsity home football games, Bon Secours 5K Race, Hoboken Police 5K Race, Night Out Against Crime and Drugs.
We are also at all large-scale emergencies such as the recent Hazardous Materials incidents at Cognis Chemical and New Jersey Transit Track 17, fires, etc. Our service is provided free of charge. The amount of man-hours and equipment we provide at these incidents could cost well into the tens of thousands of dollars if we were not an all-volunteer agency.
Recently the City of Hoboken and the county of Hudson commended us for our work on September 11, 2001. The members and officers of our organization spent days manning triage/treatment areas, as well as all three of our ambulances being kept in service around the clock.
It is our pleasure and duty to provide these services. We work side by side with the Hoboken Police and Fire Departments, who also do a wonderful job at protecting our residents.
In the near future you will receive a donation request letter in your mailbox. Please consider us when you receive this request. Your tax-deductible donation will help keep up the great work that we have been providing for 31 years. Also remember whether you donate or not, we remain true to our motto: “We Care, We’ll Be There”.
Thomas F. Molta, President
Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps