'We need funding': Alberta's lone volunteer underwater search team asks for support to bring closure to families
The volunteer underwater search team that responds to drownings all across Alberta is concerned it won't be able to survive without funding from the provincial government.
The Underwater Search Team responded to 19 calls in 2021 and seven so far this summer, including the death of a 14-year-old Edmonton boy in a Whitecourt, Alta., pond last Sunday.
August is typically its busiest month, and the president of the group is worried they'll be needed again this weekend as the warm weather continues in Alberta.
"The fear is that with the heat and high temperatures, I think a lot of people will be trying to get out to the lakes and I fear that we might be called out again. It would be lovely if we're not," Luke Jevne told CTV News Edmonton in Millet on Wednesday.
"I hope people play it safe, wear life jackets, take precautions and come home. That's the number one job: come home."
The Underwater Search Team has 12 volunteers, and at least four are needed per recovery mission.
They don't get paid and all the equipment is personally funded. Jevne — who hasn't been to his paying job in nearly a month while he's responded to five calls — estimates he's spent $15,000 on gear and another $15,000 on training.
He called it a "very expensive passion," but he does it to bring closure to families who've lost loved ones in drownings.
"I'm happy to do what I've done but it comes at a very big cost," he said.
"I've talked to an MLA and an MP, and again they were shocked that there's no funding for us or that we're not a full-time dive team and that's as far as it's gone."
CTV News reached out to the provincial government for comment but has not heard back.
To donate to the Underwater Search Team, click here.
"Financially and timewise, I don't know how we can make this continue. It's taken a lot of toll, not just on the bank account but the time away from family and work," Jevne said.
"We need funding."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Suspects waving weapons, smashing glass in Toronto jewelry store robbery caught on video
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
New evidence challenges the Pentagon's account of a horrific attack as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan: CNN exclusive
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.