Northern Cambria church honors first responders

NORTHERN CAMBRIA, Pa. (WTAJ) — Every first Sunday in May Hope Springs Church honors first responders with a Red, White & Blue Ceremony.

“They need to be appreciated, and it’s a heartfelt appreciation. And our church really loves to honor the first responders,” Pastor Fred Catchpole said.

As the pastor of the church, Fred has been honoring first responders for six years. He said that it’s not just because of his compassion, but because he’s been an EMT himself for more than 40 years.

“When I saw the need of people who were broken and hurting and that that I felt that, you know, I just need to get into it and I have always treated it as a ministry,” Catchpole said.

The church invited 47 emergency response departments from all over the county to be honored. During the ceremony, first responders also received certificates of appreciation as a small token for all they do.

“I have probably seen things that you don’t even see in a horror movie. And I can personally say there’s a lot of people probably wouldn’t be here or would have a different outcome in their emergencies if it wasn’t for the group effort of all the first responders,” Anna Johnston, a paramedic said.

Anna has been a first responder for 30 years. In all that time, she said that she was never told how much it would affect her.

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“After the pandemic, everything has changed. Just the empathy and compassion isn’t there amongst the general population anymore. It has gotten much more difficult. Yes, I signed up to do it, but nobody warned me about all of those effects that are going to happen down the road,” Johnston said.

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