Great Barrington — The First Congregational Church has raised $2,630 for the Southern Berkshire Ambulance through its “Virtual Flowers” program.
Over the past four years, the church has donated funds to several community organizations through the program, including The People’s Pantry, Construct, Second Street Second Chances, Strong Little Souls, Greenagers, and the Food Box Program at Berkshire Hills Regional School District.
“We had a pastor who told the members of the church that we really should be contributing more money for local organizations,” church member Mary Hamilton told The Berkshire Edge. “We always had an abundant altar for Easter and for Christmas. The parishioners would buy the flowers and take them home afterwards. Our pastor suggested that we have very few flowers on the altar to celebrate and instead use the funds to donate to local organizations.”
According to Hamilton, church members collaboratively decide on the local nonprofit to support through the “Virtual Flowers” program. “This year, everybody wanted to contribute to the ambulance group,” Hamilton said. “They have done a good job of letting the community know that they really need the funding. We have been all reading the news, and we know that we have an elderly community who uses the ambulance service. We are all grateful that they are here.”
According to its website, Southern Berkshire Ambulance was founded in March 1968 and currently has 12 full-time and 27 part-time members, including 10 full-time paramedics, six advanced EMTs, and 23 EMTs. The squad responds to 3,800 calls a year on average and serves Great Barrington, Housatonic, Alford, Ashley Falls, Egremont, Monterey, Mount Washington, and Sheffield.
“All EMS groups have problems when it comes to staffing and financing,” said Southern Berkshire Ambulance President James Santos. “Financing is very hard to come by. When we see community support like this, it’s fantastic. It makes us all feel like we are going in the right direction.”
Santos said the squad is “holding [its] own” in terms of funding. “It’s a continuing battle,” Santos said. “We will always need more. It’s great to have the church support us, but I wish more folks would do this. We have a great commitment to the people and the towns that we serve. But it’s hard sometimes to make them understand that, while they got our services for free for over 45 years, we can’t do that anymore. Every little bit we can get can help us.”
For more information about Southern Berkshire Ambulance, visit its website.
