LINCOLN TO THE RESCUE
Town of Lincoln donates ambulance to the city of Belle-Anse, Haiti
LINCOLN – Imagine, if you can, a Providence without hospitals or rescue vehicles, the capital city of 179,000 residents left instead with only a handful of small clinics and just a few nurses.
That’s not just a frightening nightmare scenario for Bernard Georges, that’s life in Belle-Anse, Haiti. Because in that community of 158,000, the res- idents are left without a hospital or a method of transportation in an event of an emergency.
But that changed on Wednesday, when the town of Lincoln donated an ambulance and 12 sets of rescue gear to Belle-Anse.
“This is a big, big thing for the Haitian community and Haiti…” Georges, the founder and executive director of New Bridges for Haitian Success, said on Wednesday morning. “With no hospital but small clinics, you see the challenges people go through … In Belle-Anse, there are just a few nurses, no doctors, no hospital. This will make a big difference in saving people’s lives.”
The town of Lincoln worked with the office of Lt. Gov. Daniel McKee to facilitate the donation in partnership with Greenwood Emergency Vehicles, a company that supplies ambulances, fire trucks, and other vehicles to many
Rhode Island communities.
The donated ambulance was purchased brand-new in 2005 but is being phased out and replaced by vehicles with updated technology. The donated rescue vehicle and gear will be transported by New Bridges for Haitian Success, a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting the state’s Haitian population and providing relief to communities in Haiti.
McKee on Wednesday said that the vehicle donation was yet another way his office seeks to connect Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns, as he partnered with Johnston last June to facilitate the donation of two decommissioned fire trucks to the Dominican Republic.
“It’s another way of connecting…” McKee said. “Today is no different, connecting the Haitian community in Lin- coln. It’s beneficial for Haiti and New Bridges for Haitian Success with the opportunity to be a community leader.”
McKee said this was yet another prime example of how communities across the state can do a “good job to strengthen relationships, working to connect with the Haitian community.”
Sean Thompson, Lincoln’s rescue director, was described by McKee as “the guy that made this happen.”