05/13/2026
An Open Letter to the Marathon Community
5/13/2026
By now, many throughout the Marathon community have seen the announcements regarding the projects selected to receive funding through the Village of Marathon’s $4.5 million New York Forward grant initiative. MAVAC’s proposed new ambulance station was among the projects under consideration during this process.
When the final funding decisions were released yesterday, we learned that the MAVAC project was not selected to receive grant funding. For those of us within the organization who have worked tirelessly for years pursuing every possible opportunity to build a new EMS facility for our community, the news was deeply disappointing. Quite honestly, it was heartbreaking.
Over the course of the six-month review process, residents were repeatedly encouraged by state representatives to attend public meetings, share their perspectives, and help identify the projects they believed would have the greatest impact on the future of Marathon. And as this community so often does, people showed up in remarkable fashion. State representatives repeatedly commented that the level of public engagement and participation from Marathon residents exceeded what they had seen in many other New York Forward communities across the state.
Throughout the process, the proposed MAVAC ambulance station project received overwhelming support from community members. Among all proposed projects, it consistently ranked at or near the very top in public feedback and was ultimately tied with the library project as the highest-rated proposal among both residents attending the public sessions and the members of the Local Planning Committee. That support meant the world to us, and we will always be grateful for the countless residents who advocated for the future of emergency medical services in our community.
Because of that strong public support, many residents understandably feel frustrated and disappointed that the project was ultimately not selected for funding. Since the announcement, MAVAC has received an outpouring of phone calls, messages, emails, and personal conversations from community members expressing their support for our organization and their disappointment with the outcome. Please know that we hear you, we appreciate you, and we share many of those same emotions ourselves.
At the same time, it is important to recognize and celebrate the six projects that did receive funding through this initiative. Each of these projects represents people and organizations who also invested tremendous time, effort, and vision into improving our community. Their success is meaningful for Marathon, and their achievements should absolutely be applauded. Our disappointment regarding the ambulance station project should never diminish the positive impact these initiatives will have on the future of our village.
So where do we go from here?
The answer is simple: MAVAC moves forward.
For more than 25 years, our organization has faced challenges with determination, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to the people we serve. That commitment remains unchanged today. We will regroup, continue exploring additional grant opportunities and funding pathways, and keep pushing forward toward the construction of the ambulance station our growing EMS operation and rural community so clearly need.
We cannot always control outcomes, but we can control how we respond to adversity. MAVAC will continue doing what we have always done — serving this community with pride, professionalism, and dedication.
Most importantly, thank you! Thank you to every resident who attended meetings, voiced support, shared encouragement, and stood beside our organization throughout this entire process. Your belief in our mission means more than words can adequately express.
Sincerely,
John W. Tillotson, Ph.D.
Chief
MAVAC
