GOWANDA — Gowanda Ambulance officials are hoping an anonymous $5,000 donation to their organization’s building fund — along with a challenge for the community to match it — can help spark a slower-than-anticipated fundraising effort.
The anonymous donor said they will donate an additional $5,000 to the campaign — for a total of $10,000 — if the community will match the initial $5,000 donation.
“I think it’s wonderful we had someone so generous to do that and even think about trying to stimulate the community to respond,” said Pat Volk, president of the Gowanda Ambulance Service Board of Directors.
The donation brings the total amount raised for the building to about $35,000, according to Volk. The total cost of the building, which is expected to be built on Aldrich Street across from the Gowanda Fire Department, exceeds $400,000.
The organization late last year set up a GoFundMe account online to try and raising additional money, but only $450 has come in online after promotions via advertising, newspaper articles and word-of-mouth.
“I think it’s a very important asset to the community and no one is getting behind this to fund a new building,” said the anonymous donor in a phone conversation with The Gowanda Press. “It concerns me.”
The donor is hoping to spur the community to rally around the ambulance service’s plea for funding by creating the challenge of raising $5,000. If the community can do it, they’ll match it.
“We need it more than ever because there is no hospital,” the donor said about the ambulance service.
Volk admitted she is perplexed why donation avenues like the GoFundMe account — which is accessible online and can be shared on social media — hasn’t receiving more donations.
“I thought we’d get some kind of donations — even $10, $15 or $25,” she said. “Not much seems to be coming of it.”
Volk said Gowanda Ambulance has sent out surveys to those who used their services recently and thought a donation would come from them after their positive review of their treatment.
“They are happy with the service and how wonderful the paramedics and EMTs are, so I thought maybe they’d send something in,” she said.
The lack of donations has slowed the organization’s plans for this year, but Volk said she is still hopeful Gowanda Ambulance can begin construction of the building this year. To do so, they are aiming to raise at least $200,000 to start, she said.
In addition to donations, Gowanda Ambulance has been working to obtain grant funding to try and bring in more money.
“We give medical care that saves lives on the way to the hospital, which is important today because we cover such a large area,” said Volk.
The donor, who has ties to the medical industry in Gowanda for decades, said they remember when the community used to rally and donate to Tri-County Hospital for its fundraising campaigns.
“People had a good feeling about it,” the donor said about donating to Tri-County Hospital. “There seems to be no feeling whatsoever and yet when they need (the ambulance service) they want it right there.”
Gowanda Ambulance officials celebrated the future location of their new building last September, when land for the building — specifically a 2.02 acre plot — was donated by the late Dennis Hills, his wife, Pat, and Bill Gugino.
The move will eventually give Gowanda Ambulance a more up-to-date location after being located in the heart of the village since its inception in 1961.
To donate to Gowanda Ambulance, visit gofundme.com/ambulance-building-fund.
