Local Business Owners Give Back to Hatzalah

In a community with many “community organizations,” there’s one organization that stands out as particularly critical; that is Hatzalah. Crown Heights business owners Avremi Zuntz and Sruly Bernstein have come up with an innovative way to give back.

In a community with many “community organizations,” there’s one organization that stands out as particularly critical; quite literally a matter of life and death. That is Hatzalah, of course, the dedicated volunteers who are always ready to drop everything and attend to any medical emergency that may arise. With its signature record response time and ever-growing repertoire of personnel and other resources, Hatzalah is an indispensable part of the fabric of the community.

Hatzalah will always be there when you need them. This truth is taken for granted—as it should, operating as a sort of security blanket in the background. But every once in a while, people take notice and step up to be there for Hatzalah.

Avremi Zuntz, a partner at Leasing Direct, is one such person. “We’re a community-based business, and over the years, the community has been extremely kind to us. After all this time, we were thinking of how we could give back to this wonderful community, and Hatzalah was a natural choice. They are inarguably one of the most important organizations in our community, so we wanted to figure out a way to support them as best we could.”

As a business in the automobile industry, Zuntz along with his partner, Sruly Bernstein—himself a Hatzalah volunteer—came up with an innovative method of support: paying for all gasoline needed to fuel Hatzalah’s fleet of vehicles. “We wanted to do some form of constant giving,” said Bernstein, “and the idea of fueling every vehicle definitely fits that criterion. This way, we have the zechus to be part of every call Hatzalah gets.”

Make no mistake: Hatzalah’s fleet isn’t limited to the on-demand calls they regularly get. Of course, that alone amounts to plenty of driving around and gas burned to get there. One under-the-radar activity for which Hatzalah is responsible is “Car One,” its dedicated car that patrols the neighborhood every night, driven by a dedicated volunteer ready to jump at the first call and quickly render whichever care necessary. In the wee hours of the morning when a blessed silence and darkness blankets the community, Hatzalah isn’t ready to take chances for someone to groggily get out of bed and make their way to the scene. Hence the car roams around at night, constantly in need of more fuel.

And now, thanks to the generous folks at Leasing Direct, those expenses are covered. From the community, for the community.

For anyone who wishes to take part of Hatzalah’s efforts to keep the community alive and well, healthy and secure, please reach out to [email protected]