Photo Courtesy United Way Alberta Northwest

By Tanner Smith

Community Fundraiser

United Way Alberta Northwest hosts first “Harvest Heli-Drop”

Nov 7, 2023 | 12:46 PM

The United Way Alberta Northwest will be hosting a first-of-its-kind event on Sunday, November 12.

Executive Director of United Way Alberta Northwest, Tracy Zuk, explained the Harvest Heli-Drop; “So what we’re doing is partnering with Gemini Helicopters and Country Roads RV Park, and we are doing a Heli-Drop. So we’re selling golf balls and our friends at Gemini Helicopters are going to be dropping these balls from the air onto a target, whoever is closest to the target has a chance to win $10,000, and even the farthest away from the target has a chance to win $1,000.”

Zuk said the idea for the first-of-its-kind event for Grand Prairie is credited to a brainstorming session their group had, where they looked at a number of different fundraisers from neighboring communities.

“You know we we were just brainstorming one day and we were kind of looking to see what other communities were doing, and I believe we were looking at a community in B.C. that was doing something very similar, and then we just kind of put our own twist on it, and we thought you know why not furthest away as well, (to have a chance at a prize) just for you know a little bit of a unique twist to it. I don’t believe anything has been done in Grand Prairie like this at least not in my recent memory anyways so something fun and unique and different.”

All the proceeds from this event will then go to the numerous local organizations United Way supports. “Seniors Outreach, Cool-Aid Society, Centre for Creative Arts, Meals on Wheels, Council for Lifelong Learning, John Howard Society, there’s a whole bunch of them.”

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Zuk added, this will be the main fundraiser for United Way Alberta Northwest this year, so as to not clash with any other local not-for-profit’s.

The event will be hosted at Country Roads RV Park and will be free to attend, with golf balls selling for $25.

She says there is no limit to how many balls you can buy, adding “We would love you to buy as much as you can.”

Residents do not need to be in attendance during the Heli-Drop but are invited to attend.

United Way Alberta Northwest has also noticed a trend with local businesses and would like to streamline the process for them.

“What we’re also noticing actually is a few businesses are buying golf balls to give their employees as kind of a token of appreciation, and what they’re doing is they’re actually challenging their business owner friends or people that are in the same industry to do the same. So if someone is actually interested in doing that, they can contact me I can help them through that process,” said Zuk, who can be reached by emailing director@unitedwayabnw.org.

Sponsorship opportunities with the event are also still available and anyone interested can contact United Way Alberta Northwest, or Tracy Zuk directly.

Anyone wanting more information about the Harvest Heli-Drop, can click here.