A month ago, the end seemed near for the Lopatcong Emergency Squad. After serving the township for 80 years, its debt had become too much and the squad planned to shut down. Now, a committee of current and former squad members is devising plans to nurse the organization back to health. But the biggest keys to success, it says, are donations and volunteers.
“We are reaching out to the people of our community to help us to move on. We need your help so that we can help you,” the nonprofit squad said in a Facebook post on Tuesday, appealing to Lopatcong’s approximately 8,000 residents for financial assistance and volunteer service. The squad said it found itself in dire straits in recent years as costs and time for volunteers increased. It brought on paid staff and began billing for service, but it could not offset declining donations.