By Taylor Chartrand

Area resident donates $85,000 truck for HALO raffle

Apr 6, 2019 | 5:40 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A southern Alberta man who wishes to remain anonymous, has graciously donated his 1987 Chevy pro-street truck, to raise money for HALO’s operating costs.

“We’re rather excited about this one,” said HALO co-chair, Allen Kuizenga. “We’re never done a raffle like this before. The truck was donated by a loyal HALO supporter who had built it for fun. It sat in storage for two-and-a-half years and he just wanted to get rid of it and figured HALO was a worthy cause to give it to.” 

The truck itself sports a 383 stroker engine with 700 horse power, just to name a few of the modifications.

Kuizenga says HALO is hoping to get a months worth of operating costs from the proceeds of the upcoming raffle.

“Our costs are $2.6 million a year. Broken down it’s $210,000 a month. A lot of that cost is the helicopters being on call. The pilots are there, the insurance has to be paid and the payments on the helicopter have to be made, whether it flies or not. The only variable you have with that is fuel costs .The more it flies, the higher your fuel cost.”

Young minds, big ideas: Elementary students learn about urban planning with 'Box City'

18h ago

HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

Summer pool hours extended and discounts applied as Big Marble Go Centre upgrades start

Apr 18, 2024

Medicine Hat company drawing in clients with witty signage

Apr 16, 2024

Which makes donations like this crucial to keeping HALO in the air.

“As you all know, HALO is kept in the air by donations of our local, loyal supporters. We had a one time grant from the provincial government of a million dollars, but we don’t know what comes after that when it’s done in September.”

Kuizenga says not only do fundraisers like this help financially, but they also ensure HALO’s name gets out there.

“It’s awareness of HALO because we still have an issue with getting our name out there. We don’t have the big budgets for advertising and it’s word of mouth that we rely on.” 

Kuizenga didn’t shy away when he stated that he didn’t know what HALO was until he was impacted personally.

“I got on the board four years ago after a friend of mine was rescued by HALO. Before that, I never even heard of HALO. So, it was all word of mouth.”

And even though they don’t have big budgets, Kuizenga says HALO receives massive support from the residents of southern Alberta.

“We’re blessed with the support we get from our community, but we have to get our name out there more and it’s a challenge, but it’s a challenge we accept.”

Tickets for the 1987 Chevy will go on sale in roughly two-months time. HALO will make an announcement once they are ready to sell. 

Each ticket will be $60 a piece and there will only be 3,000 sold.

The raffle will be open to anyone who lives in Alberta.

The draw for the truck will take place on February 29th, 2020.