On January 21, 2018, Brett Lambert, son of Jody and Cheryl Lambert, was snowmobiling in the Okanagan back country when he got separated from his group.
After he had been missing with no contact for two hours Vernon Search and Rescue were mobilized through the instruction of the local 9-1-1 dispatcher. He was missing throughout the night but was located soon the next day and was rescued by helicopter.
鈥淵ou always hear about something like Search and Rescue and other volunteer groups but until it hits that close to home,鈥� said Jody, as his wife finished his sentence. 鈥淵ou realize that the resource is needed to safely search for people,鈥� said Cheryl. 鈥淭he very next day, I thought we needed to do something.鈥�
In an effort to give back, the Lamberts are organizing a golf tournament as a fundraiser called SOS (Supporting Our Searchers) for Vernon Search and Rescue.
鈥淚 felt the [acronym] S.O.S. was fitting for what we went through,鈥� said Cheryl, who described the night as being an emotional roller-coaster. 鈥淚t was the toughest night of our lives.鈥�
Trevor Honigman, the public information officer for the Vernon SAR unit, said that they are grateful for any fundraising help as SAR work is made possible through efforts such as this.
鈥淪earch and Rescue is completely volunteer and we fundraise for all of our gear, our equipment and all of our training and we always need funds but with the number of people coming to Vernon and to the Okanagan in general, it increases the need for more vehicles, more personnel, more training to take care of more people who are getting injured and lost in the outdoors and in the wilderness,鈥� he said.
鈥淭elling the Lamberts that Brett was going to be brought home was a pivotal moment for them and the fundraiser that they鈥檙e putting together is just a way of them saying thank you to search and rescue, and it鈥檚 great.鈥�
As spots in the tournament are limited, the couple has also begun a .
鈥淭hey鈥檙e local people who are giving their time and putting their lives at risk to a degree just because they want to help other people,鈥� said Cheryl. 鈥淲e want them to keep doing that and we need their services and we just want to support them in whatever they need to continue doing that for us. If we didn鈥檛 have them, I don鈥檛 know where a lot of our people would be, honestly.鈥�
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 pretty obvious where a lot of them would be,鈥� added Jody. 鈥淭hey wouldn鈥檛 be found.鈥�
For more information or to donate, visit .
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