Weeks after sounding the alarm about an apparent lapse in funding, St. John Rescue is thanking local donors for showing their support. But one of the organization’s volunteers says they’re still unclear about the stability of their funding mix.

Like its all-volunteer counterpart on St. Thomas, St. John Rescue relies in part on government funds supplied through VITEMA. Private donations and grant awards make up the rest. In a statement issued Nov. 1, St. John Rescue President Bob Malacarne said monies once thought of as a sure thing were left in doubt.

A $65,000 allocation approved to cover operations in 2024 came in a few months later than expected, and Malacarne said so far, there’s been no word about the request sent in for 2025. “We haven’t received any funding yet,” the group’s president said.

State grants, private-source grants, fundraising drives, and public-private partnerships are some of the ways an estimated 1,150 search and rescue groups support their operations nationwide. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one person familiar with the V.I. support system says the annual allotment usually arrives in February, but this year was delivered in August.

To make up the shortfall, the group is tapping a savings account that could support continued operations for up to two years. If deficits persist, he said, St. John Rescue may have to trim back its array of services.

“ … without additional support, we will be forced to scale back non-emergency operations .. reducing the very training and preventive efforts that make St. John safer every day,” the statement said.

One of those services is recovery and transport of the dead on St. John — a service that is not seen anywhere in the territory, Malacarne said.