Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation announced that due to generous donations, emergency rescue helicopter service has been secured for the remainder of 2021.
TCSAR Foundation Executive Director Stephanie Thomas says, “These donations benefit the entire community, as it allows the Foundation to ensure uninterrupted helicopter service for Teton County.” The campaign to assure that service, “Heli-Yes!” will continue again next year but will pause for now.
Part of the donations securing the helicopter service are from the giving by Foster and Lynn Friess, who this year gave many of their friends the opportunity to select a favorite charity for their donation.
Jerry Blann, former longtime president at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and his wife, Rebecca, designated their Friess gift for TCSAR’s heli program. The other gift came from an anonymous local donor.
With helicopter funding secured, the Foundation is turning its attention to bringing on a new class of volunteers, the first time this has happened since 2015.
Selecting from a pool of 150 candidates, the team is training 10 new volunteers at a cost of approximately $20,000 per person.
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