The Nye County Search and Rescue Team is gaining financial strength as spring gets underway.
The team was the beneficiary of a fundraising spaghetti dinner hosted by the Moose Lodge of Pahrump on April 2.
“We have done this in numerous years in the past, and we continue to do this every year for them,” said Jim Cornell, community service chairman for the Loyal Order of Moose in Pahrump. “It helps raise funds for equipment that they need to do their service.”
Besides spaghetti, the meal included salad and garlic bread. A bake sale also brought in funds. Money from the dinner was collected on a donation basis.
“You can put $5 in the pot and go get your salad and your dinner,” Cornell said.
The date for the event was set last October.
‘We have so many organizations that we do (help), we try and keep it up and schedule it,” Cornell said of the planning process. “We do Search and Rescue. We do Special Olympics, Disabled American Veterans just name a few. We just did the Senior Center Meals on Wheels and raised $2,149 with the bake sale, a drawing and a dinner.”
VOLUNTEER EFFORT
Food at the spaghetti dinner for the Search and Rescue Team was donated by the lodge and prepared by its volunteers.
“The whole thing is done by the membership of the Moose and Women of the Moose,” Cornell said. “The bake sale is donated. The women bake, and they sell it. All of it that comes to Search and Rescue. Nothing is kept. Everything goes to Search and Rescue.”
PRIZE AND THANKS
In addition, drawings were held for donated prizes, raising additional funds for the team. Items included crockpot cookware, a griddle warmer and artwork. A donated gun valued at $700 was part of a separate ticket drawing.
“We are just thankful for the community, thankful for the membership of the Loyal Order of Moose and the Women of the Moose to continue this and keep it going,” Cornell said.
Multiple Search and Rescue Team members were on hand for the dinner.
“It’s extremely helpful,” said Matthew Clayton, a commander with Nye County Search and Rescue. “Without these kinds of events, we don’t have the funding to buy some of the equipment that we need and get the training that we need. It’s vital.”
Maddie Miller, Search and Rescue treasurer, said the fundraising event traditionally brings in about $2,000.
“That really helps us,” she said. “That gives us money to buy equipment and everything.”
The team featured at the Pahrump event typically services the southern part of Nye County.
“We can go anywhere within the state if we’re requested,” Clayton said, adding that the team is under the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.
“We really appreciate the support of the community with the fundraisers that we do,” he said.
Contact editor David Jacobs at djacobs@pvtimes. On Twitter: @pvtimes