Numerous companies and several families across the Border City have come on board to ring up some welcome donations for the Lloydminster Rescue Squad.
The local not-for-profit has been serving the emergency medical and rescue needs of the region since 1984. Deputy Chief Ryan Leblanc has been with the rescue squad for some six years and is buoyed by the community generosity.
“We are so excited. We are approximately 50 thousand dollars away from meeting our hard target. We are so happy to be able to acquire some of this new equipment that’s so needed for our region.”
The rescue squad is aiming for some 174 thousand dollars with their Water Wishes project. They are stocking up on equipment and gear. The big ticket items include a new boat to allow them to scan underwater, a remotely operated underwater vehicle with sonar scanning and a manipulating arm to recover items and some new diving gear for their dive team.
Leblanc expects to take possession of the boat and diving gear in about the next six to eight weeks. Leblanc says they have seen an increased demand for their services as several people have had extra downtime over COVID-19 months.
“People were going to the lakes and the rivers really because [they] had not a whole bunch to do. With that our calls skyrocketed. We wanted to still be able to continue the service and help people, and we identified some gaps that we have when conducting these missions.”
As we head through Spring and get into Summer Leblanc is reminding about using life jackets and to be mindful in the prevention of drowning and boating mishaps.
“We want to remind everybody to wear their life jackets and be careful on the water for other boats. If you’re boating at night time be sure all your lighting works on your boat and follow the rules.”
Leblanc says he appreciates the opportunity that Lloyd Rescue has given him to be able to give back to the community. All of their 25Â members volunteer their time in serving the Mid-west region and they are grateful for the community outpouring of generosity.