Community boards, FNHL support search and rescue group
The district’s three community boards have each allocated funding to Far North Land Search and Rescue, a not-for-profit organisation that searches for missing people in bush or urban environments.
The district’s three community boards have each allocated funding to Far North Land Search and Rescue, a not-for-profit organisation that searches for missing people in bush or urban environments.
The organisation sought grants to help pay for the lease on its Mid North Rescue Centre located next to Bay of Islands Airport on Wiroa Road. Before taking on the new lease in December, the group applied to each community board for grants of $5,000 to cover the cost of the first year of the lease. Far North Land Search and Rescue (FNSAR) was successful in gaining funding from all three boards.
Far North Holdings Limited, which owns and operates the BOI Airport where FNSAR is based, has also agreed to support the search and rescue group in its first year of the lease and to extend the lease to a two-year term.
FNSAR President, Raewyn Smythe, says the support is hugely significant for the organisation. “It allows our volunteers to concentrate on the job at hand rather than worrying about fundraising to secure our base for the next two years.”
Far North Land Search and Rescue is a member of the national organisation, New Zealand Land Search and Rescue Inc (NZLSAR). You can find out more about them on their Facebook page.