Fundraising Project

WE DID IT!

COMMAND CENTER PROJECT ACHIEVES FUNDING GOAL

Grand Falls-Windsor, NL, February 1, 2018 – Exploits Search & Rescue in conjunction with the Bishop’s Falls Lions Club & Lions International, are excited to announce that the Command Centre Project is coming to a triumphant close.   With a total of $350,000.00 raised in 14 Months, all parties are extremely proud to have taken delivery of the new command centre and have it ready for service on the next callout.   Community Partners and Major Sponsors were invited to attend the unveiling of the unit at the Exploits Search & Rescue building today and provided with a tour.

“To go from a thought at a meeting, to having a command center in our building in that short of a timeframe was beyond anyone’s expectations. We are extremely proud of our team member’s effort, the support provided to us by the Bishop’s Falls Lions Club, and all the community partners that came together to help us out.”

Trevor Miller, Public Relations – Exploits Search & Rescue

“The Bishop’s Falls Lions Club would also like to thank Lions International for matching funds totaling over $130,000 as a single donation! By matching, it inspired us to work that much harder and encouraged many other charitable groups, religious organizations, business community, and many individuals to join in this awe-inspiring partnership. As a member of the Lions Group, I am so proud of the support our organization was able to offer as we recognize the tremendous cause and convictions of the volunteers giving freely of their time to help others – a big thank-you to the Search and Rescue team for all you do so unselfishly to help others.”

 David Alcock, Chair Bishop’s Falls Lions Fundraising Team

 

History of the Project

Exploits Search & Rescue (ESAR) have partnered with the Bishop’s Falls Lions Club to establish a fundraising project in support of purchasing a
Mobile Command Center to be used by ESAR during their regular activities.  This new purchase will replace the existing school bus that has been utilized well past its normal service life.  The estimated project cost for the Command Center is $150,000 and the Lions club is committed in supporting us to meet that goal.  In addition to this, Exploits Search & Rescue will be working to raise the additional $120,000 required to purchase a truck on which the Command Center will be mounted.

Why Funds Are Needed

In 2001 the team acquired a 1987 School bus that was taken out of service and renovated the interior for use as a mobile command center.  This vehicle has served its duties well, however ongoing maintenance costs are becoming high and availability of spare parts is becoming a significant risk to operations.  This mobile command center serves the following purposes:

• Radio base
• Incident Command Post
• Kitchen & Warm-up shelter for team members
• Storage unit for up to 60 individual assets used to support search and rescue activities

Figure 1 Existing Command Center

Due to the reliance on this unit and the risk faced with pending failure, the ESAR team decided that it was time to start a fundraising project to work towards replacement of the current mobile command center.

Background

The Exploits Search and Rescue Team is a highly trained and well equipped volunteer emergency response unit serving communities throughout Central Newfoundland. The Team was originally established in 1982 as the result of an initiative by Emergency Measures and the RCMP, who saw a need for organized and trained groups to assist police in locating missing persons. It is one of 24 teams, containing almost 800 members, currently operating throughout the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Today the Exploits Team provides search and rescue services to residents and communities from Harbour Breton and Bay D’Espoir in the south to Notre Dame Bay and Gander Bay in the north, from Badger Lake in the west to Appleton in the East. To put this into perspective, this is an area somewhat larger than Cape Breton Island and almost twice the size of the Province of Prince Edward Island. The team averages 15 – 20 incidents per year and in 2015 incurred 1437.5 person hours along with 1837 person hours of training.  On top of those team stats there was 2418.5 hours of administration time spent. This is all volunteer time given by dedicated community people with other permanent jobs and families at home.

Members of the Exploits Search and Rescue team receive basic training in map and compass and GPS navigation, radio communications, first aid, wilderness survival, the psychology of lost persons, and search techniques and procedures. In addition members can receive training in evidence search techniques, emergency traffic control, wilderness first aid, ice rescue, high angle and helicopter rescue, tracking, swift water rescue, rope and rigging management, and water search techniques. In most cases training is provided by skilled and certified trainers from within the team however trained professionals are available to assist with training when needed.

The Exploits Search and Rescue Team is a licensed charitable organization and is largely self-supporting. With the assistance of local communities, through the use of grants and through extensive fund raising efforts, the team has been able to build up a large inventory of equipment to fulfill its various roles and to construct a building in which to house these assets. While it is one thing to obtain equipment; it is quite another endeavor to maintain these resources in an operational condition. Fund raising and the support of local communities remains a continuing priority for team members. Members themselves are completely volunteer and receive no compensation for their efforts. Members also equip themselves at their own expense and frequently contribute their own vehicles, ATVs, snowmobiles, boats and other personal resources to search efforts.

In recent years the team, through Search & Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada (SARVAC), has been active in a program called AdventureSmart.  AdventureSmart is a national program dedicated to encouraging Canadians and visitors to Canada to “Get informed and go outdoors”. AdventureSmart combines online and on-site awareness with targeted outreach to try and reduce the number and severity of Search and Rescue Incidents.  ESAR regularly conducts awareness sessions in the community to support this program.

The Bishop’s Falls Lions Club has a mission to empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through the club.  This, combined with a vision to be a leader in community and humanitarian service, led to the partnership with Exploits Search & Rescue once the need was identified.

Figure 2 Map showing historic search locations & region of responsibility

CBC Central Morning Radio Show

Search and Rescue Group Targets New Vehicle

The Exploits Ground Search and Rescue group needs a new mobile command centre, and are working hard to raise the funds needed. Our Melissa Tobin spoke to public relations rep Trevor Miller.

Download Search and Rescue Group Targets New Vehicle

Advertiser Story

Transcontinental Media story can be read online here

NTV News Story

Exploits SAR fundraises for quarter-million-dollar command unit