Dear Editor,
I am writing as a concerned pastor in Tucker County. As a person and as a Catholic priest, one of my greatest passions is respect for human life.
I have always believed that every human person has an intrinsic value and deserves respect and that includes protection and preservation. This is why we have a Pregnancy Care Center here at the St. Thomas Center, so that women know that we care for them and their babies in the womb. I make these remarks as a prelude to another aspect of respect for human life that has caught my attention.
In the April 19 edition of the Parsons Advocate the Ambulance Authority was asking for the consideration of a MANDATORY ambulance fee. I was deeply saddened to read that the voluntary fee only generated $15,000.00 when it was anticipated to generate $175,000.00.
As a pastor I have been involved in several emergency situations that require the ambulance services. Every one of them involves a person who is in need and it is almost always life threatening. The availability of an ambulance is critical and the expertise of the squad members is invaluable. The paramedics can mean the difference between life and death and there is a price to pay for what they do for us as a community. They deserve a just wage. For these reasons (and many more that space will not allow) I am voicing my wholehearted support of a mandatory ambulance fee.
My parishioners, all the people of the county and the many tourists deserve to have this protection when needs arise. I would like to see the fee set at $50.00 a year per residence. In my mind it is a miniscule sacrifice to pay to save a human life.
I also would like to add that if this should remain a voluntary fee, and I hope it does not, I am willing to pay one other person’s fee if they cannot afford it. I invite others in the county to do the same. I do not want to just talk about respecting life, I am willing to do something to show that I respect life!
Please join me in urging your readers to support a mandatory annual ambulance fee for Tucker County.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Timothy J. Grassi
Pastor of the Catholic Church in Tucker County
