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By ASHLEY ADAMS
The Evening Sun (Hanover, Pennsylvania)
Ryan Appel will be traveling more than 1,000 miles to complete his senior project.
The 18-year old South Western High School student is donating an ambulance to Fontainebleau Volunteer Fire Department in West Jackson County, Miss., which lost everything to Hurricane Katrina.
The Hanover youth – who volunteers for the Hanover Borough Fire Department and Penn Township Ambulance Club – plans to drive the ambulance down to Mississippi this week with his father, Larry, and other volunteers.
“We are going to leave Thursday night and hopefully get there by Friday night,” Ryan Appel said. “They are going to show us around Mississippi, the damaged areas, and we will be there til Monday.”
The 1981 Ford ambulance was donated to Ryan by York County School of Technology.
“My friend’s dad saw the ambulance at the school and told my dad about it,” Ryan said. “We contacted the school and they decided to donate it to us.”
Ryan actually started the project a couple of years ago when he and his father, Larry Appel, donated an ambulance to a company in a rural part of West Virginia.
So, when Ryan needed a senior project, he just did what he knew best – donating rescue equipment to companies in need.
“My dad was doing some research after we got the ambulance and he found a whole bunch of places that wanted it,” Ryan said.
Mike Khayat, administrative officer for Fontainebleau Volunteer Fire Department, contacted Larry Appel about the devastation that occurred to their company and how they were in need of an ambulance.
Fontainebleau VFD was founded in 1963 and provides fire, rescue and medical coverage to about 30 square miles and 5,000 people. The main station of Fontainebleau VFD is about a half-mile form the Gulf of Mexico.
Khayat said of the 25 members of the company, 21 suffered major damage to total destruction of their homes. Seven of the members lost everything.
Everything was lost at the main company station with the exception of one truck which was moved just prior to the storm. Khayat said the total losses are in the range of $835,000. Insurance covered $630,000.
But before the ambulance can travel to Mississippi, it had to be fixed so it could make the trip.
J&S Transmission & Auto Repair Service in West Manheim Township donated labor and some parts to the project. Ryan said the ambulance still needs a tune-up and paint before starting the long journey.
Several other businesses and individuals have made donations of either equipment or service for the project, Ryan said. But what is needed now is gas money.
Ryan has already raised $500 for the trip, but anticipates needing another $300 to $500 to pay for the high gas rates.
“I just hope I will be successful and we will get it down there by next weekend,” Ryan said.
Contact Ashley Adams at aadams@eveningsun.com .
HOW TO HELP
To make a monetary contribution, make check payable to: Mississippi Ambulance Fund, c/o Jennifer Cookerly, Branch Manager, Community Banks, 1345 Baltimore St., Hanover, PA 17331. For more information call (717) 521-6751.