Sponsors of Virgin Islands Search and Rescue tour the organisation’s base at Road Reef on Thursday. Photo: NGOVOU GYANG

If you have an emergency at sea, you can call Virgin Islands Search and Rescue.

There is no fee for the service, VISAR volunteers said last Thursday during the organisation’s first Sponsor Appreciation Soiree at their base at Road Reef Marina.

Sponsors of Virgin Islands Search and Rescue tour the organisation’s base at Road Reef on Thursday. Photo: NGOVOU GYANG
“VISAR is an ambulance service, but it’s not like we bill the people we rescue,” VISAR marketing director Nick Cunha told current and prospective sponsors who toured the base during the event. “We don’t ask them to swipe their credit cards.”
Providing this free service to the community, however, is expensive.

“Our running cost per year is $200,000,” said VISAR President Gerard Kraakman.
Much of that money comes from a campaign the organisation operates through charter companies.

“Every charter company collects a dollar per passenger, which generates about $140,000 a year,” Mr. Kraakman said. “That’s at least 70 percent of what we need per year.”
VISAR raises the rest of its money largely through two fundraisers: Swim the Sound and the Governor’s Gourmet Dinner, he explained.

Though current sponsors were thanked at the event, VISAR also invited prospective contributors, Mr. Kraakman said, adding that the organisation hopes to purchase a new rescue vessel soon.
“Our boat needs to be replaced, and we need funds for that,” he said. “The aim is, in total, we need to raise $400,000.”

 

See the Feb. 18, 2016 edition for full coverage.

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