Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps will see $2,000 annual grant thanks to late auto dealer’s contribution to trade group’s endowment

Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps saw a $2,000 boost on its balance sheet last month, when Apple Honda presented the corps with a grant from the National Automobile Dealers endowment.

Apple Honda general manager Bill Fields said the grant will be coming to the ambulance corps for the rest of Fields’ life, thanks to an investment in the organization’s endowment made by Apple Honda’s founder and longtime president, Irwin Garsten.

“So, it’s like 2014 or 2015 and Irwin calls me in his office and he says, I got this letter from the National Automobile Dealers Association. And what they are proposing is that I write them a check for $10,000 and they invest that money and then after a period of five years, I could pick a charity to donate $2,000 to for the rest of my life — the rest of your life,” Fields recalled Garsten, his stepfather, telling him.

“And I said, that sounds interesting. Go ahead and do it. That’s a good investment. So he took out his own checkbook, — not the company’s checkbook, his own checkbook — and he wrote a check for $10,000,” Fields recalled.

Garsten, a business owner known for his commitment to community causes in Riverhead, where he’d owned and operated auto dealerships since 1959, died in February 2017 at age 86.

“So naturally, I’d forgotten about it,” Fields said of Garsten’s donation. “And I’m sure he forgot about it, too,” Fields said.

“Time went on, and I received a letter from them during COVID. And they said, this year was the first year that we were able to issue your check. Unfortunately, the stock market doesn’t allow us to,” Fields recalled. “ Anyway, this was the first year that they were able to issue the check. So from now on, during my lifetime, I could donate from the endowment $2,000 to the ambulance corps.”

That news delighted RVAC.

“We are so appreciative,” said RVAC President Garret Lake. “It goes to funding things that members need, like jackets for the winter,” he said. “It also helps fund camaraderie-building exercises, like entry fees for the softball team,” he said. “That helps us attract and retain members,” he said, “though these are things that taxpayer money can’t fund.”

Garrett said the ambulance corps was “very surprised” by the gift — and they didn’t realize it would be a recurring gift.

Fields explained his choice.

“They are an incredible organization and they, due to the amount of population increase and business increase in our area, they are a highly, highly stressed organization and need all the support that the community can offer,” Fields said. “And they come to our aid here at the dealership whenever we have a problem, and they’re right across the street, so I can’t think of a better one,” Fields said.