Money not for ‘revenue recovery’

By Dave Mickelberry
Guest Columnist
Published: July 24, 2008

The Madison County Rescue Squad Inc. (MCRS) thanks the Madison County Fair Inc. and its board of directors and officers for sponsoring a first time ever Community Give Back Night at the county fair on Wednesday, July 16. We also thank the Madison County community for its support on July 16.

Despite the price of fuel and the tough economy of late, you — the Madison County community — donated more than $4.600 to the rescue squad and the fire company, to be split in half, as your entrance fee to the fair. The volunteers of MCRS, from the bottom our hearts, thank you for your support to our organization. Your donations will go a long way and be a big help to our organization. Your donations will help fund improvements, purchase much-needed life saving equipment and provide training to our volunteers.

Your donations over the past few years have allowed MCRS to put aside some money and we were able to purchase a new ambulance that will be delivered in late July and will be placed into service in early August. Look for it in the future, designated unit No. 385, proudly serving the community.

It is the citizens of Madison County that enable us to carry on our important work in providing pre-hospital emergency care for the community of Madison. Please know how grateful we are for your support.

MCRS volunteers’ mission, passion and purpose for volunteering with the squad is to be able to provide superior pre-hospital emergency basic and advanced life support to you, our neighbors, if you should ever need it. This is for you, our hometown community right here in Madison County.

MCRS is an entirely volunteer organization made up of citizens from the local Madison County community. MCRS is committed to providing outstanding emergency medical care and ambulance transport to the residents and visitors of our community at no charge. Neighbors helping neighbors in our local community!

You can trust the Madison County Rescue Squad to be good stewards of the donations that you provided us. Know that 100 percent of those donations from the fair will go toward lifesaving equipment and supplies for MCRS, not fund-raising and not setting up “revenue recovery” programs or any administration.
MCRS and its volunteers are deeply grateful for your gifts to the rescue squad this past week. We are committed to providing Madison County with the best emergency care available and with your donations provided at the fair, we can continue that care.

As volunteers with MCRS, I can’t pay them; it’s not because they are worthless; it is because they are priceless. I can only offer them my sincere thanks for going on yet another emergency call in the middle of the night. The hearts of each of these volunteers is not measured in size, but by the depth of the commitment to make a difference in the lives of others.

(Guest columnist and Malvern resident Dave Mickelberry is the captain of the Madison County Rescue Squad Inc. Contact him via e-mail at .)