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CTV News
a day ago
- General
- CTV News
Rescue review: Ground Search and Rescue welcomes consultation with N.S. government
Ground Search and Rescue (GSAR) teams in Nova Scotia are busier than ever and now the province is interested in taking a closer look at their growing workload and finding better ways to support them. Halifax GSAR says their call volume has nearly doubled to 31 incidents and 4,440 operation hours logged this year alone, up from 17 calls for service and 2,670 hours during the same time period between April 1 and June 4 in 2024. The team's emergency response work once focused solely on missing persons. That has expanded into a wider range of emergencies. In Halifax GSAR volunteers assist the municipality by doing wellness checks for the city's growing homeless populations and finding shelter for people during a storm. 'We're not just responding to missing persons calls anymore,' said Halifax GSAR chief director Paul Service. 'We're active participants in the fire response, like the wildfire response, and we we're active participants in the flash flooding situation,' One of the largest ongoing search and rescue efforts in the province is for six-year-old Lilly and four-year-old Jack Sullivan who went missing from their home in Lansdowne Station, N.S., on May 2. Colchester GSAR have been leading the volunteer effort in the thick forest around the children's home which expanded beyond the initial search area even after RCMP reduced their exhaustive air, ground and water search. There are 23 GSAR teams across the province and many of the 1,200 trained volunteers have been involved in the search for the missing siblings. Large-scale searches and natural disasters like flash floods and wildfires have tested volunteer search teams but they also face financial challenges. The teams are required to fundraise to keep operations going. 'We're really struggling on the back side,' said Service. 'Volunteers only have so many hours that they can give to the community before it starts to take a toll on them.' In a letter from the province's department of emergency management, deputy minister Sandra McKenzie said they have hired a consultant to determine what kind work the GSAR teams do and assess how the province can better support their effort. 'As we stand up the new department, we are interested to engage with GSAR teams and better understand the evolving role GSAR teams play in Emergency Management,' wrote McKenzie in the letter. That's welcome news for Service, who says there's currently no clear work arrangement in place with the province. 'We're looking for a strategic plan,' said Service. 'We need to know where we are going and how we fit into the equation and from there developing a funding model as to how we can go forward and offer those services.' Funding is crucial right now. Halifax GSAR said they need a new command truck – which comes with a $600,000 price tag. Service says most of their funding comes from the Halifax Regional Municipality which gave them $90,000 last year towards their operating budget. The bulk of their donations come from their annual fundraising campaign which usually brings in $50,000 or more. Dartmouth councillor and police board commissioner Tony Mancini calls search teams essential. He said it's time for better coordination between all levels of government and more support to make it easier for search teams to operate on the ground. 'Policy is part of it and we need to have strong governance and policy around the search and rescue,' said Mancini. 'And even as a municipality I think we can step up our support for them.' For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Search group warns against fake fundraiser exploiting two children missing in N.S.
Jack and Lilly Sullivan, who were reported missing from their home in Nova Scotia's Pictou County on May 2, 2025, are pictured. HALIFAX — Halifax Search and Rescue is warning against fraudsters impersonating their group who claim they'll use donated cash to search for two missing children. Paul Service, director of the volunteer organization, says a GoFundMe campaign attempted to raise $100,000 to fund a drone to search for four-year-old Jack Sullivan and six-year-old Lilly Sullivan. A large-scale search was launched for the two children after they disappeared on May 2 in Lansdowne Station, N.S., and there have been two, smaller efforts since then involving volunteer searchers. The non-profit group says it doesn't normally request donations through GoFundMe and doesn't base its campaigns on particular searches. Service says a representative from GoFundMe contacted him to say it was taking down the site and investigating after the campaign was reported on CBC. He says that it is disheartening for his group to have to cope with scams, as it may discourage the public from donating to his group's legitimate fundraising efforts. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Search group warns against fake fundraisers exploiting two children missing in N.S.
HALIFAX - Nova Scotia search and rescue organizations are warning the public about fundraisers claiming they'll use donated cash to search for two missing children. Paul Service, director of Halifax Search and Rescue, said in an interview Thursday that one GoFundMe campaign attempted to raise $100,000 to fund a drone to search for four-year-old Jack Sullivan and six-year-old Lilly Sullivan. The campaign stated 'any unused funds will go to Halifax Search and Rescue or other active missing children searches.' Service said the non-profit, volunteer group didn't authorize that statement, doesn't normally request donations through GoFundMe and doesn't base its fundraising campaigns on particular searches. 'We would never tie in a fundraising effort to a specific search,' he said. A large-scale search was launched for the two children after they disappeared on May 2 in Lansdowne Station, N.S., and there have been two, smaller efforts since then involving volunteer searchers. To date, there have been no signs of the children despite hundreds of ground search and rescue teams combing through the densely wooded area. The teams also used helicopters, drones and thermal imaging technologies. On Tuesday, the volunteer group put out a warning on Facebook and other social media about 'fraudulent individuals and organizations impersonating us and soliciting money for searches.' Service said a representative from GoFundMe contacted him to say it was taking down the site and investigating after the campaign was reported on CBC. He said that it is disheartening for his group to have to cope with scams, since it may discourage the public from donating to his group's legitimate fundraising efforts. 'It's discouraging from our point of view because there are ... search and rescue teams in Nova Scotia that could all use donations to help keep their teams going or help buy additional equipment,' he said. 'These (false fundraising campaigns) challenge the legitimacy of all of the other fundraisers that the teams are doing and the good work those teams do.' Service said his group is hearing reports of some people receiving telephone calls soliciting funds to help in the search for the children. On May 31, the Pictou County Volunteer Ground Search and Rescue posted warnings telling its supporters it doesn't use telemarketing to seek donations. 'We had someone reach out saying they had been approached to give their credit card over the phone to donate to 'help save children,'' the organization warned in an online posting. Service said for people who want to donate to his organization, 'the safest way is to ... contact us directly,' on the group's website. He said his group receives close to $110,000 from the municipality and fundraises or seeks donations for about $40,000 to help meet an annual budget. 'Between April 1 and June 4, we've contributed over 4,000 hours of volunteer time responding to incidents,' said Service, adding this season has been among the busiest on record for ground search and rescue efforts in Halifax County. GoFundMe did not respond to a request for comment. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- General
- Globe and Mail
Search group warns against fake fundraiser exploiting missing siblings in Nova Scotia
Halifax Search and Rescue is warning against fraudsters impersonating their group who claim they'll use donated cash to search for two missing children. Paul Service, director of the volunteer organization, says a GoFundMe campaign attempted to raise $100,000 to fund a drone to search for four-year-old Jack Sullivan and six-year-old Lilly Sullivan. A large-scale search was launched for the two children after they disappeared on May 2 in Lansdowne Station, N.S., and there have been two, smaller efforts since then involving volunteer searchers. Explainer: Two Nova Scotia children are missing. Here's a timeline of key events since the siblings vanished The non-profit group says it doesn't normally request donations through GoFundMe and doesn't base its campaigns on particular searches. Service says a representative from GoFundMe contacted him to say it was taking down the site and investigating after the campaign was reported on CBC. He says that it is disheartening for his group to have to cope with scams, as it may discourage the public from donating to his group's legitimate fundraising efforts.
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Search group warns against fake fundraiser exploiting two children missing in N.S.
HALIFAX - Halifax Search and Rescue is warning against fraudsters impersonating their group who claim they'll use donated cash to search for two missing children. Paul Service, director of the volunteer organization, says a GoFundMe campaign attempted to raise $100,000 to fund a drone to search for four-year-old Jack Sullivan and six-year-old Lilly Sullivan. A large-scale search was launched for the two children after they disappeared on May 2 in Lansdowne Station, N.S., and there have been two, smaller efforts since then involving volunteer searchers. The non-profit group says it doesn't normally request donations through GoFundMe and doesn't base its campaigns on particular searches. Service says a representative from GoFundMe contacted him to say it was taking down the site and investigating after the campaign was reported on CBC. He says that it is disheartening for his group to have to cope with scams, as it may discourage the public from donating to his group's legitimate fundraising efforts. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
