Staind Bassist’s Gift Helps Buy Ambulance in Mass.

GOSHEN, Mass. (AP) – An ambulance company that serves six rural western Massachusetts towns has purchased a new ambulance thanks to a $150,000 gift from the bass player for the hard rock band Staind.

The gift from Johnny April enabled Highland Ambulance to buy a new vehicle to replace its aging 1998 model.

Highland Ambulance director Michael Rock says the gift was a “godsend.” Rock tells The Recorder of Greenfield (http://bit.ly/uOM3IA) the old ambulance was nearing the end its useful life and the company would have been hard pressed affording a new one.

Highland serves the towns of Ashfield, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Plainfield and Williamsburg. It responds to about 550 calls per year.

April, although originally from Springfield, lives in Goshen.

Staind is best known for its 2001 song “It’s Been Awhile.”

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Information from: The Recorder, http://www.recorder.com

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