HALO charity crop shaping up

By MO CRANKER on July 17, 2020.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker

HALO’s second annual charity crop is shaping up to be a good one.

“We have 360 acres this year,” said HALO’s Paul Carolan. “We’ve got canola this year and wheat – both irrigated and dryland.

“We’ve got a bit to go here until we harvest, but the crops are looking good.”

The program came together last year and raised around $35,000 for the air ambulance organization. The land is donated and the labour is done by volunteers. The fertilizer and seeds are also donated.

“A group of amazing people volunteer their time, money and equipment to make this happen,” said Carolan. “Because of this big group effort, a significant amount of the funds from the crops is able to go to HALO.”

Carolan says the fundraiser is perfectly fitting for what HALO does.

“It ties into what we do so well,” he said. “We serve farmers and ranchers in southern Alberta so much, so to have a fundraiser right up that alley makes a lot of sense.

“We’re looking forward to the crop this year.”

While Carolan is not a farmer, he is hearing good things from people working on the crops.

“The rain has been incredible,” he said. “From what I’m hearing, we have a really high potential for this year’s crop.

“It’s really fun for us to work with different levels of the farming community to make sure the crop comes out properly.”

Carolan says HALO continues to look for new ways to fundraise.

“We have to be creative,” he said. “Our program punches well above its weight and we need to make sure we’re able to keep it funded.

“It’s important for us to think of things like this, that other people may not be doing, so we can fund the operation.”

HALO gets no funding from the province and is waiting on a review being done to see if funding possibilities are in its future. Carolan says the review is still a couple months from being finished.

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