Evelyn Fried takes part in a putting challenge at the HALO Hole In One Tournament on Thursday at Cottonwood Coulee Golf Course. -- NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Dozens of golfers hit the links at Cottonwood Coulee Golf Course on Thursday to support their local medevac program at the HALO Hole In One Tournament.
While complete fundraising totals were unavailable Thursday evening, HALO CEO Paul Carolan says he knows the amount raised was significant.
“We do know the course was donating back the green fees, so it’ll be a significant golf tournament for us,” said Carolan, adding recent fundraisers like the Hole In One tourney have helped keep HALO airborne into next year.
“We’re planning full operations through the second quarter of 2021 with the primary aircraft, with the BK 117.”
HALO announced back in May that it was planning to significantly scale back operations in June unless it received support from the provincial government. Thankfully, says Carolan, the community stepped up in its place.
“It’s definitely been an emotional rollercoaster, certainly one of the hardest announcements that I’ve ever had to make when we announced that we were looking at scaled-back operations,” he said. “But then almost immediately, we had the Free Fry Day with McCain and Western Tractor. That was a significant rallying point for us; we raised over $400,000 in one day, but the crisis fundraising – and I think that’s an important factor here – is that the community has rallied around HALO in a crisis and we have to recognize that we can’t always expect to be able to rely on that. So, we do need the government to come to the table and we need to be able to get back to normal fundraising.”
While Thursday’s golf tournament was limited to 18 teams in order to meet public health guidelines, Carolan says it was a great way to get back into the community and feel a sense of normalcy.
“Honestly, just getting back in front of people and having an event that still respects COVID and follows Alberta Health guidelines, being able to do that with people is really part of the program and we want to make sure we continue with that,” he said. “That’s a big intangible that’s over and above whatever financial support we get.”
