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In addition to responding to calls, the 20 active members of the rescue squad devote countless hours to drills, meetings, training classes and fund-raising. Eight other support members concentrate on administrative work and fund-raising.
Payne officially recognizes the “top runner” each month. County animal warden Carl Menefee won the honors the past four months in a row. With the squad only since April, Menefee is also a member of the Sperryville fire company and a minister at the New Hope Baptist Church.
As one of the smallest squads in the county, Sperryville Rescue is constantly struggling financially. Echoing the sentiments of the other volunteer chiefs in the county, Payne reports that “donations are down from last year by 40 percent. If we didn’t have the fire levy, I don’t know what we’d do.”
The shortage of volunteers makes the squad’s motto of “family first” especially important. “This has been our success,” Payne emphasized. “People who join know that if they have obligations other than the squad, no one is going to make them feel guilty. We all look after- and cover for each other.”
With required classroom training of at least 40 hours for the first responder course, to the more than 500 hours required for paramedic certification, EMS personnel devote an extraordinary amount of time and effort to their volunteer work. But there is a place for everyone who wants to volunteer, no matter how much time or talent he or she might
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