Silo Ridge residents donate $50,000 to Amenia Ambulance Corps

AMENIA — Jamie Vitiello presented a check for $50,000 to the Amenia Volunteer Ambulance Corps Sunday morning, Nov. 17, during the Amenia Fire Company’s pancake breakfast at the fire house.

Vitiello said he heard about the ambulance corps’ need for a life-saving device called the Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System device, or LUCAS device for short. The LUCAS device assists emergency responders in applying chest compressions. The mechanical device can be situated around a person’s chest in the case of cardiac arrest and used to provide compressions that are more consistent and generally safer than a human providing CPR.

“I sent out a text in the morning and then went to Town Hall,” Vitiello said. “By the time I had gotten to Town Hall we had raised $25,000. By the end of the day we had raised the whole $50,000.”

The LUCAS device cost just over $20,000 to purchase. Vitiello said the remainder of the $50,000 donation will go to the Ambulance Corps fund to support regular costs like ambulance maintenance.

The donation was made in the name of Silo Ridge residents in association with the Amenia-Wassaic Community Organization.