Members of the Winchester Ministerial Association recently presented members of the Winchester EMS with a $1,500 check.
The check was the proceeds from the first annual Scott County First Responders Day held on October 15th. The celebration of the county’s first responders was the brainchild of Winchester Assembly of God Pastor Cindy Colbert.
Colbert says the appreciation of the county’s first responders was well-received and was successful due to many partners. She says there are hopes of expanding the event next year: “We hope to [do it again]. We’ll know more as time draws closer, and we’ll see which different branch of the first responders needs the funds. We will for sure raise funds for one branch or the [event], but the event itself will be free. It’s the plan as long as we have the sponsors. We had many people kick in and sponsor this year’s event and make it possible. We had a lot of volunteer help. It was very much appreciated from what I’ve been told directly.”
Colbert says that they will talk with all the county first responder groups in the fall next year to set a date for the next appreciation day so that as many members can attend: “This is a farming community. Many other cities can schedule a particular date for an event like this each year. Around here you got to work around schedules and work with our farmers. May of our EMS volunteers and our fire department volunteers are farmers, so we will work to find a date that works for their schedule.”
This year’s celebration featured several donations from the surrounding Scott County community organizations, businesses, and churches. First responders got a free meal and a free Bible thanking them for their service to Scott County.