GLEN IRON — A week into its annual fundraising membership drive, the Union County West End Ambulance Association is finding it difficult to distance itself from the West End Fire Company’s ongoing $37,757 embezzlement scandal, its captain says.

Joe Richard, captain of the ambulance association, said Wednesday that residents are mistakenly tying the ambulance service to the fire company, which is fighting a petition by the state attorney general to dissolve the volunteer company.

As a result, retaining community members has been challenging on top of attracting new members, according to Richard. The membership drive — with rates between $10 and $20 — kicked off May 18 and continues through Monday.

“We’ve received daily comments from people who aren’t sure what to do, because they understood the fire company was inactive,” said Richard, adding this year’s drive is even more important amid the struggling economy. “They don’t know we’re a completely separate entity. We have been for 50 years.”

Richard said the membership drive is a key source of revenue for the association, which operates on a $110,000 annual budget. The biggest funding source — government grants — has dwindled due to the recession, he added.

“Our revenue streams are pretty limited,” said Richard, adding the association typically brings in $15,000 a year in membership fees. “We don’t get local millage tax or funding from the social club or the fire company. This drive is really important, because we want to ensure our residents have their own local ambulance service that is ready to respond when needed.”

With so many volunteers working outside the township, Richard said it’s been difficult to staff the two ambulances during the day. The hope is to generate enough momentum in fundraising to someday support a paid staff for the day shift, he added.

“We’ve been working closely with Mifflinburg Ambulance Service for first response over the past two years,” said Richard, who was hired last week by the association to be a full-time administrative officer during the day at $9 per hour. “We feel our residents deserve to have the quickest response possible, so I’m now here to handle the immediate response until a Mifflinburg ambulance can arrive.”

Richard also will work on grant applications and search for other funding possibilities, as well as handle day-to-day administrative duties.

“Hopefully in the future, we can add funding through local fire tax or other means to add more paid staff,” he said. “This is our busy time of year with camping season beginning and the Boy Scouts camp opening shortly, which has thousands of Boy Scouts come through over the summer.”

He added, “We expect it to be even busier this year with more people choosing to stay closer to home and go camping to save money.”

According to Richard, the ambulance crew responded to 230 calls last year. More than 100 calls have been made so far this year.

For information on the annual drive, call 922-1120.

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