The donation of $600 was given to WNY Emergency Medical Services (EMS) on June 25 by Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop in West New York.
At the ceremony, Mayor Vega also unveiled three new police vehicles for the WNY Police Department.
EMTs for ice cream
The donation came from funds raised on April 29, during Ben & Jerry's annual Free Cone Day where patrons came and enjoyed approximately 3,500 ice cream cones on the house.
West New York EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) workers volunteered their time and services from noon to 3 p.m. helping scoop the tasty treats for customers while offering free blood pressure checks and giving children a tour of the ambulance.
Customers that day were able to donate money that would go towards the town's emergency services, and many customers did, showing their appreciation for the West New York EMTs as well as their dedication and hard work in town and taking care of its residents.
The Ben & Jerry's shop owner Sibel Berberoglu, 37, of Fort Lee, was overjoyed to help the town raise money for its EMT services.
"We love doing events to raise money for West New York," says Berberoglu. "It is such a great neighborhood. We love doing these community-based events, and we look forward to doing more in the future."
Berberoglu continued, "We had fun that day. We had a big party in the store all day long with the EMTs volunteering their services, scooping out ice cream, meeting the people, giving out free blood pressure checks. We also had music, DJs, and face painting for the children."
Mayor Silverio "Sal" Vega accepted the check on behalf of West New York's EMS.
"What's great is they are a part of this national free ice cream day, and they took it upon themselves to ask for donations," said Vega. "They had hundreds of people that came through here, and they made it clear that they wanted to help the EMT services. The EMT services were here providing blood pressure tests, so it gave us a great chance to reintroduce the EMT service to the community, especially here on the waterfront. For [Berberoglu] to do this for us shows that people like her have a commitment to the entire community and that is very important."
A new ride
The West New York Police Department also had their own reason to celebrate as they received three new police vehicles.
Two of the fully equipped police cars will be marked units used by local law enforcement to help patrol the city. The other police car will be an unmarked unit used by Police Director Oscar Fernandez. His previous unmarked car will be given to the department and utilized by bureau detectives.
Fernandez said the cars would help keep the WNY Police Department keep their patrols from being depleted. Adding two to three news cars a year would help keep the fleet afloat and will save the town in the long run because they would not have to buy a large number of cars at once, said Fernandez.
According to Fernandez, the vehicles are 2008 Dodge Chargers with Hemi engines, a powerful engine that uses a hemispherical combustion chamber that gives a car a boost in performance. He opted for the traditional "black-and-white" design of the new patrol vehicles, saying the simple look gives off a strong impression at first glance. The cars were leased for $30,000 each through Commerce Bank. Comments on this story can be sent to: rluna@hudsonreporter.com
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