The President of the McLeese Lake Volunteer Fire Department is still in awe over a recent $21,000 grant from the Province.
Society President Ian Hicks says they sought help from Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes when they realized that they had to pay tax to register a donated ambulance from Horsefly.
“A volunteer fire department gives a truck to another volunteer fire department, they have to pay tax on it. So how this all got started was, one of our gals here texted Coralee and said geesh is there anyway around this. So when she got checking into this, she said well I can’t change this, but let me see what I can do.”
Hicks says Oakes then asked for a list of some of the things that might help them out.
“and she said that sometimes there’s funds to be dispersed and if there’s letters from different organizations they consider it and then bang. She just comes out and of course I’m only expecting $2,000 for some first responders bags and it was $21,000. I just about floored myself.”
Hicks says the Department is now completely set up for getting all the way through the summer adding that it will get the first responder program completely up and running, all the insurance paid, and a new muffler for the ambulance.
He says they’ll be now be looking at having a society meeting to hammer out the rest of the details on how to distribute the funds.
“First priority is to get the first responders all the stuff they need for this program and then have a look at what’s left. Take some aside for the fire hall fund and then if we could retire one of the old trucks and pick up something newer-I know there’s a few of them lying around, that would be really fantastic.”
The McLeese Lake Volunteer Fire Department raises majority of their funds through burger and flower sales, as well as the donation of bottles.