The Throggs Neck Volunteer Ambulance Corps. recently received a $5,000 anonymous donation with just one condition: that they paint a mural on their garage door showcasing the work they do.
The donor paid for the mural at TNVAC’s base located at 3955 E. Tremont Avenue, adjacent to a fire house, opposite Rino’s Restaurant.
It comes just in time for the corps’ 32nd anniversary this Memorial Day on Monday, May 30 and will also pay for renovations to the entire station.
A donation with this kind of stipulation is unusual for TNVAC, president Bill Heaney said, but all the more appreciated, as all donations go to the volunteer organization’s day-to-day operations.
“This is the biggest donation we have ever received from an individual person who wanted to remain anonymous,” Heaney, who came to TNVAC a year after it founding in 1979, said. “Since the donor’s only stipulation was that we paint some kind of mural, of course we did it because it was the donor’s money. We think that the mural will attract recruitment. It is just great.”
The donation came out of the blue, Heaney said. The crew members came up with suggestions as to what type of mural they wanted, and then TATS Crew, professional mural painters who advertise top artist talent, came and completed the work on Saturday, May 21.
“We asked some of the people in the corps about their ideas for the mural, and they came up with the American Flag, and the Star of Life, which is the symbol of people in the medical profession, and finally the Throgs Neck Bridge,” Heaney said. “The Whitestone and Throgs Neck bridges are actually the boundaries of the ambulance corps. The mural captures your eye and shows the three big things that the ambulance corps represents: country, community and the medical profession.”
Heaney said that when he passed the 20×20 foot mural on the way to work recently, he was awestruck with how got good it came out.
“People walking by have told me how nice it looks, and the fire department next door said that they were going to have to get one of their own in order to compete with us,” Heaney said. “People have responded well all around, and it will raise awareness that we are here at this location.”
To learn more about the Throggs Neck Volunteer Ambulance Corps., or to get involved, call (718) 404-9501 or e-mail WHeaney@tnvac.us.
