A new endowment fund that will benefit the Ocean City Paramedics Foundation in perpetuity has been established at the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore.
The fund has been named the “Pairo/Krebs Ocean City Paramedic Foundation Endowment Fund” to honor two individuals who played critical roles in the creation and development of the nonprofit organization that benefits and supports the Town of Ocean City’s corps of paramedics.
Richard H. Pairo, Sr., is the founder of the Ocean City Paramedic Foundation. The naming of the fund also honors the late Albert Krebs, one of the paramedic foundation’s early board members who advocated establishing an endowment to permanently benefit the organization.
Pairo founded the Ocean City Paramedic Foundation in 1979. In its formative years Pairo was the driving force in organizing and promoting the organization’s fund raising activities and the overall development of the Foundation. His efforts and foresight ultimately led to an annual fund drive and the Foundation’s participation in Ocean City’s Springfest and Sunfest celebrations to raise money for the organization.
Pairo’s good friend, Al Krebs, shared his passion for supporting Ocean City’s paramedics and soon joined the Foundation board. Krebs believed that the nonprofit organization should create an endowment that would help supplement funding for the resort’s paramedic’s needs on a permanent basis. His early efforts and advocacy to retain some funds as permanent assets for the paramedic foundation have now resulted in the establishment of the new endowed fund at the Community Foundation.
The mission of the Ocean City Paramedic Foundation is to assist the resort community’s paramedics and supplement the medical needs of the community through education, the purchase of equipment and public awareness. Since its inception, the Ocean City Paramedic Foundation has provided over $800,000 to support paramedic services in the resort. Funding from the foundation is in addition to the Town of Ocean City’s annual paramedic services budget.
Rick Pairo, current president of the Ocean City Paramedic Foundation and son of the founder, said, “The establishment of the perpetual fund is only secondary in importance to the founding of the Paramedic Foundation itself. It is a phenomenal accomplishment that took lots of sweat and tears to accomplish over many years.”
“It is a proud moment for my family and all of us who are a part of the Paramedic Foundation to see the fund named for my Dad and Mr. Krebs recognize something that was so near and dear to them,” Pairo added.