SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — Each year, Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue devotes more than 9,000 hours of service into more than 120 life-saving missions. Funded mostly through donations and composed of all unpaid volunteers, the non-profit works with the community to stay afloat, and is now hoping for sources of money to make sure its equipment stays useful and safe.
Some volunteers with SCVSAR have been giving their time for decades, and they've seen the equipment age over time.
"A lot of people assume, correctly, that we're here to help people- all of us, directly, help people, but we also get something out of it," Mike Loney said. "For me and a lot of us, it's camaraderie as a team, being on missions and in teams, people you get really tight with."
Even though they're unpaid volunteers, rescues are expensive. For example, the hoists used to lift someone during a rescue cost tens of thousands of dollars to overhaul during maintenance time.
Along with helicopter rescues, the group has seven other teams, including an equestrian unit and swift-water rescuers. Their work requires a lot of equipment, including hovercrafts, which are aging, and vehicles, most of which are from the 1990s. They also need a new roof as the current one is leaking, along with another building to house the rest of their equipment, since when it gets wet, the shelf life can be shortened.
Recently, SCVSAR has been working to apply for grants, but so far, has not seen the funding it needs to make these types of repairs and replacements. It's looking for community members who many want to donate, or have ideas for sources of funding that could help them continue their work. To learn more or to donate, click here.