Rescue 25 Project Finishes Fundraising, Surpassing Their Target Goal

Another piece of Campbell history is being saved.

Campbell's received the last boost it needed to begin the road to restoration.

At the Campbell City Council meeting on June 21, the Rock Bottom Foundation presented the council with a donation of $7,052.15 to go towards the .

"It put us over our target amount," says Fred Van Hook, a Friends of Rescue 25 organizer and an original member of the pioneering paramedic team in Campbell. "This will give us a little bit of a buffer here to do some extra stuff. We're hoping to start this in July and have it done sometime in December and turn the keys over to Campbell museum."

The donation brings the total raised for the Rescue 25 Project at $17,747, almost $3,000 more than the group's goal of $15,000.

Rescue 25 is the original 1974 custom cab Chevrolet used by founding members of Campbell’s first firefighter paramedic team in 1974.

Now that the project has met their goal, a three-stage restoration process is set to begin in July, which includes body, interior and detail work.

"We have already made plans to deal with and they will be doing the painting and body work," Van Hook says. "They're very nice folks."

The group is also working with .

"They've been in the automotive industry for a long time," Van Hook says. "He’s going to help us line up all the vendors, hopefully all within the city of Campbell."

The Friends of Rescue 25 hope to have a kick-off ceremony sometime in July, with various city people coming by to take the vehicle apart. The group is meeting July 1 to discuss potential dates.

Rescue 25 will be used as a tool to help teach children about fire safety as well as for city functions.

Daniel Gamberg contributed to this article.