Rescue Inc offers Subaru raffle July 4 in Brattleboro

As part of the pre-fireworks festivities at Living Memorial Park on July 4, one very lucky donor will have reason for extra celebration: someone will become the winner of a brand-new Subaru Impreza as part of a raffle to benefit Rescue Inc.
The emergency-response organization, which serves 15 towns in the Brattleboro region, has been selling tickets to the raffle since April. Itâ s also offering a subscription membership package to area residents.
â The response to the raffle as well as the subscription drive has been great,’says Mark Considine, Rescueâ s chief of operations. Considine pointed out that Rescue is an independent, non-profit organization, not a government agency.
Raffle tickets will continue to be available in several ways: they may be purchased from Rescue Inc. volunteers; they can be purchased online via www.rescueinc.org; and they may be purchased during regular business hours at Rescue Inc. headquarters at 541 Canal Street in Brattleboro.
The 2012 Subaru Impreza, which is being provided at cost by Brattleboro Subaru, is a 5-door hatchback model. It is on display at Rescue Inc., and will be driven in the July 4 parade.
Considine urged residents to purchase tickets as soon as possible, but for those who wait to the last moment, tickets will be sold at the Brattleboro Common at the conclusion of the parade.
â While we do receive contributions toward expenses from our member towns, we would not make ends meet without fundraising efforts of various kinds,’Considine said, â because our reimbursements from insurance, Medicare and Medicaid simply donâ t repay the cost of providing 24/7 coverage over such a wide area.â
The Subaru raffle tickets are priced at $50 each, or three for $100. The holder of the winning ticket will have the option of receiving a $15,000 cash payment in lieu of the vehicle.
At the same time that Rescue board members and volunteers have been selling raffle tickets, the organization is also in the midst of its subscription campaign, by which residents may sign up at a flat annual fee to receive coverage for the cost of any ambulance services not covered by insurance.
The subscription fee is $50 for people who have medical insurance, including Medicare, and $100 if any household member does not have insurance. The subscription covers three medically necessary local emergency calls and three physician-approved, medically necessary, local non-emergency transfers over the course of a 12-month period.
For those with insurance, the subscription pays any balances that the insurance does not pay. For those without insurance, the subscription pays the entire balance.
Considine said that for someone who required three ambulance calls in a year, the total cost could be as much as $1500. â For an uninsured person, our subscription plan would pay the full amount,’he said. â For an insured person, their plan might still require a co-payment of 20 percent, or the cost might go toward a deductible ‘but again, with a subscription they not have to pay anything.â
For full details and restrictions, refer to the packet that Rescue Inc. has mailed to households, or contact the Rescue Inc. office.
Considine said that the raffle, the subscription drive and other fund-raising efforts by Rescue Inc. also help to provide ongoing staff training and enable the organization to purchase needed state of the art medical equipment, so as to be able to provide the best possible rapid-response service.
BRATTLEBORO, VTâ Rescue Inc.