Today Box 21 is the area’s oldest continuously operating all-volunteer emergency service organization. Box 21 is funded by an annual summer fund drive, a winter mail solicitations campaign, and with dues and donations. All members work without the expectation of pay or other compensation. From headquarters on Island Park in Dayton, Ohio, Box 21 operates heavy rescue trucks, ambulances, mobile reha
bilitation units, water rescue equipment, an air cascade vehicle and multiple watercraft. Aid is rendered primarily to fire, police, and medical authorities who are actively engaged in helping others. By its charter, the organization will travel any reasonable distance to assist; such distances have included trips to Gallipolis, Cleveland, Richmond, Louisville and Canada. Membership in Box 21 fluctuates between 30 and 40 persons, and each is responsible for knowing all phases of the operation. The reward which each member receives for his/her efforts is the satisfaction of knowing that he/she has helped someone else by providing a necessary service in a tradition that has lasted since 1935.
