Cochrane Search and Rescue (CSAR) raised $9,000 at their annual garage sale, held Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre June 20 — an event that required 500 CSAR volunteer hours and saw some 500 people come through the gates.
“CSAR would like to thank the community for their support in donating to and buying from our annual sale,” said president Andy Potton.
“The generosity was overwhelming and we were able to raise much needed funds for our organization.”
Potton added that the organization is happy to report that a search and rescue mission they assisted with on May 27 at 11:30 p.m. resulted in the safe return home of a loved one.
Moving forward, the not-for-profit is hoping to amp up some interest from the business community and general public with their new ‘Commitment Packages’ — annual donations of $500-$2000; more information is available through their website: csarab.org (website has recently re-launched with a fresh, new design).
“We began to realize that many people believe CSAR receives funding from either the government or other ‘official’ sources and, unfortunately, this is not the case,” he explained, adding that the only assistance they receive is very low rent for their headquarters, through Cochrane Fire Services.
Last year, CSAR fell short of raising their needed annual operations budget of $25,000. Potton is not confident the organization will survive beyond 2018 if fundraising expectations continue to not be met.
One hundred per cent volunteer-run and funded solely through charitable donations, CSAR not only gets called upon to assist other agencies in search and rescue missions throughout the year, members are also present at community events to provide First Aid services and Lost Children support and security.
With a guiding principle to ‘continually strive to improve our search and rescue capabilities to deliver a valuable service to our community and surrounding area’, CSAR is closely affiliated with Calgary Search and Rescue, Foothills Search and Rescue and Olds Search and Rescue.
They assist Cochrane RCMP, Cochrane Fire Services, Kananaskis Emergency Services and conservation officers through their ground search teams, as well as K9 and ATV divisions and search manager team.
Since 2001, the organization has been the go-to team operating with the mandate ‘to assist emergency service agencies in the location of lost persons and move them to a safe location’.
To get in touch with Andy Potton, email [email protected] or call 403-835-6984.
