Photo Credit: Technical Search and Rescue Facebook page

By Shane Clausing

Technical search & Rescue raffle

Technical Search & Rescue Association launches raffle to help raise operating funds

May 19, 2020 | 5:30 AM

The Technical Search & Rescue Association is looking for help from the community so they can continue to operate in Northwestern Alberta.

Since COVID-19 began it has caused the association to cancel its two major fundraisers for the year. Those fundraisers included a Father’s Day raffle and a golf tournament.

These two fundraisers would typically help raise close to $26,000, which is a third of the association’s operating funds for the year. The rest of the money comes from government grants and other donations.

With the fundraisers being cancelled this year, the association is launching an online auction. The auction lasts until August 30 and has five different prizes you could win and are mostly from local business in Grande Prairie.

“The maximum we could get is $20,000 from the raffle, but that would be so significant to us if we could raise that amount,” said Bailey Randolph, the Fundraising Director for Technical Search & Rescue Association.

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The search and rescue team is the only of its kind in Grande Prairie and operates based on volunteers who work in the community.

Many of the people that volunteer for the search and rescue association are front line workers who spend time helping the association because they want to give back to their community.

“We work with RCMP and first responders to do different types of searches. We have specially trained teams in swift water rescue, rope rescue, ground search and we even do water animal rescues. We help when we’re needed.”

Randolph says that this fundraiser is very important for the association as they have no idea what the future could hold for them.

“Funding has kind of been halted and we’ve seen a lot of funders pull out to try to reallocate their funds towards fighting the pandemic instead. We’ve kind of taken a big hit from this.”

“Every ticket purchased not only helps us, but it goes back into the community as well.”

The draw takes place on the Labour Day long weekend.