PHC Students Volunteer to Help at the Purcellville Volunteer Rescue Squad

Purcellville, VA--The ambulance was well soaped up and PHC student Quinn Harr was using a pressure washer to reveal the ambulance’s enviable glow. A loud, clanging bell sang out just as Mr. Harr began rinsing the front cab of the ambulance.

Volunteers from the Purcellville Volunteer Rescue Squad (Company 14) ran out and jumped into the ambulance to take the call but found that they could not see out the windshield and side windows from the suds. Quinn quickly dragged the heavy motor of the pressure washer around while spraying the windows clean. Sirens blaring, the ambulance pulled off—water and soap pouring off the back. Despite the small hiccup, PHC students made themselves useful.

Quinn Harr was one of nine students from Patrick Henry College (PHC) that went to help clean up at the Purcellville Volunteer Rescue Squad last Saturday.

The clean up was organized by PHC’s Community Involvement Commission (CIC). Mark Cianci, who has been chairman of the CIC for two years, wants to use the CIC, “to glorify God through serving the community… [and] to let the community know that the students care about the community as a whole.”

Those nine students were not just there to help clean up, they were also there to work towards PHC’s mission to lead the nation and shape the culture.

Mr. Cianci has noticed that at times, while out serving the community, the reaction to the school has been a little bit negative and wants to change what he sees as a faulty perception of the school. He says, “there is a real tangible effect.” Working in the community “is the practical side of our Christianity.” Even so, Mr. Cianci thinks “the people that benefit most from the CIC are the students themselves as it takes us out of our comfort zones and shows us that there is a bigger world out there to serve.”

Mr. Harr wants to work towards PHC’s mission as well: “How are we going to change the nation if we ignore the needs of the community?” wonders Mr. Harr. “Things like [helping Company 14] are a good way to help the community we are in. If we as students are going to change the culture we might as well start now.”

One way the students helped the Purcellville Volunteer Rescue Squad was by cleaning out the attic. Two volunteers from Company 14 passed stuff down out of the attic, wearing white full body suits to protect themselves from the dust, to the students below who passed the stuff out of the garage like a fire brigade passing buckets to quench a fire. They passed out records dated from the 1970’s and boxes filled with lime green and vibrant pink colored clothing—some of the pants with cuffs as big as the waist. The students also pressure washed the garage, cleaned the vehicles, and waxed the floors in the common area.

Assistant Rescue Chief Linda Curtis, of Company 14, says she finds the help great as “it takes off the burden from regular members”

One volunteer, Amanda Lark, who has volunteered before with the CIC at the Juvenile Detention Center, found it “nice to get off of campus and do something that was not mental work… it feels like you are actually doing something for somebody.”

In the past the CIC has organized cleaning trips to the Purcellville Rescue Squad about once every year; Mr. Cianci would like the CIC to become more structured with a scheduled date for the CIC to clean up the Purcellville Volunteer Rescue Squad each year.

--Robby