Hackensack First Response Team, Inc:
A Valuable Community Asset

by Tom Cox, TMLA Inc. Vice President

One of the volunteer community services that is easy to take for granted - until we urgently need it - is the Hackensack First Response Team, Inc., which is almost always first on the scene in cases of medical emergencies in the Hackensack area, including on the shores of Ten Mile Lake. Organized twenty-three years ago by Mary Parrish, Hackensack First Response was the first such organization in the State. Volunteers receive 1200 to 1300 hours of training every two years and are equipped with several thousand dollars worth of gear.

Because Hackensack First Response Team is so important to Ten Mile residents, and because its services are provided voluntarily, The Ten Mile Lake Association has a policy of matching members' gifts to First Response in an amount equal to each gift, up to a total of $1,000 per year. So far in this new fiscal year (August 1 - September 14), TMLA has matched $185 in individuals' donations, which means that the total given by Ten Mile residents so far equals $370. Donations may be made as memorials or as outright gifts. Gifts given through TMLA are tax deductible in their entirety. Your Board of Directors encourages you to keep the Hackensack First Response Team, Inc., in mind as you are planning your year-end giving. Send your contribution to the TMLA by check payable to TMLA and mark the memo line "First Response." Add a note if your gift is a memorial. You may be assured that the treasurer will match your gift and promptly forward the total (and your memorial information) to Hackensack First Response Team, Inc.