Fill the Ambulance event in Hempfield will accept Toys for Tots donations

Lorenzo Garino isn’t sure how many toys will fit in an ambulance, but he’s going to find out this weekend.

Mutual Aid Ambulance Service is partnering with Z&M Harley-Davidson in Hempfield for a Fill the Ambulance event benefiting Toys for Tots. Garino, Mutual Aid’s director of operations, said the Greensburg-based agency was looking for a way to give back this holiday season.

“I think this is just a unique opportunity for us to partner with a local business,” he said.

Dax Dillman, owner and general manager of the motorcycle dealer, agreed.

“We’re so honored to have them come aboard,” he said.

New, unwrapped toys will be accepted at the Fill the Ambulance event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in Z&M’s parking lot at 6130 Route 30, across from Greengate Centre. They will be added to the piles of soon-to-be presents destined for Toys for Tots that already have been collected from employees at Mutual Aid and Z&M, as well as customers at the dealer and other donors, including Bolkovac Law Offices, which Dillman said has been a huge part of Z&M’s annual toy campaign the past few years.

“Everything donated stays local to the Westmoreland County community,” he said.

It has been heartwarming to think of the children who benefit from the efforts at Z&M, Dillman said. And with Mutual Aid’s help, he hopes their annual campaign can get even bigger.

Garino said the toys collected at Mutual Aid locations will be the first stuffed into the ambulances. After that, those who drop off items at Saturday’s event will take over.

“The goal is to stuff as many ambulances as we can,” he said.