A local Kiwanis club that has been supporting Chilliwack Search and Rescue for more than four decades made yet another donation to the volunteer organization this week.

The Kiwanis Club of Sardis handed over a cheque for $25,000 to CSAR Wednesday (Feb. 26). The money, which came from the sale of Kiwanis' food trailer, will go toward construction costs of the new search-and-rescue building.

"It's huge," said Jeremy Plesman, building committee chair with CSAR. "At the end of the day, the community stepped up (to donate) just shy of $400,000."

They have a long history of partnership with Kiwanis going back almost 43 years, said Kiwanis member Peter Brown.

"The relationship began when one of the founding members of Chilliwack SAR, Jack Bryceland, inquired as to the possibility of the club funding a line gun to assist people who were stranded on islands in the Fraser River, or across the water from any possible rescue help on rivers like the Chilliwack or Chehalis," Brown said.

That line gun is still owned by CSAR and was used in numerous swift-water rescues. It's now one of the historic items on display at the new search-and-rescue building where CSAR is just settling in.

Over the years, the Kiwanis club has supported the purchase of a new four-wheel-drive truck, an inflatable zodiac, uniforms, and a host of other items.

"Last year the Kiwanis Club of Sardis made the difficult decision to sell its food trailer. This asset has been part of our club for over 30 years. It appeared regularly at track meets, school functions and community events," Brown said. "The membership unanimously decided to give the entire amount raised through the sale of our food trailer to Chilliwack Search and Rescue."

The total cost for the new building on Fifth Avenue came in at about $4.3 million. CSAR raised $1.7 million and the City of Chilliwack donated more than $1 million. Other donations came from various community service, like Kiwanis, Rotary, the Chilliwack Foundation, plus individuals and businesses. A lot of contractors also gave back, Plesman added.

He went on to explain how the search-and-rescue system works. All the equipment CSAR uses is owned by the society. They get a per diem from the province every time they get a call out and use the equipment.

"From the province's eyes, what that does is it rehabilitates and allows us to maintain our equipment." 

Plesman pointed out that the city has been "really good" and helps them cut down on maintenance cost. 

The day that Kiwanis made the donation at the new CSAR building, a city mechanic was there working on one of the rescue trucks, allowing CSAR to use the funds from the government to build their new headquarters. 

"There's a reason we had $1.7 million to contribute, and it was 20 years of the team saving those per diems," Plesman added.

They still need to raise about $750,000 to pay for the new building. They currently have a mortgage and will continue to use the per diems to pay it off over the next decade or so.

Brown spoke highly of Chilliwack's volunteer search-and-rescue members, saying they are all skilled, local residents, many drawn from the ranks of first responders like firefighters, paramedics and physicians. They rescue hikers and climbers lost on nearby mountains, and respond to plane crashes, ATV rollovers, avalanches, people trapped in capsized boats, and swift-water rescues.

"They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things," Brown said.

The Kiwanis club acknowledged the contribution of the volunteer group to the community when they awarded their annual Recognition Award in 2023 to former CSAR member Adam Laurie. He spent 22 years with Chilliwack Search and Rescue team as a leading expert in river rescues. Laurie has assisted SAR teams province-wide and aided the RCMP underwater recovery team.

Anyone wishing to donate to Chilliwack Search and Rescue's new building can go to and click "donate" in the upper right corner.

CSAR came about following the Mt. Slesse plane crash of 1956 and was originally called the Chilliwack Emergency Rescue Corps. In the 1970s, with the formation of the Provincial Emergency Program, it was revitalized and renamed Chilliwack Volunteer Rescue. A few years later the group changed its name to Chilliwack Search and Rescue. They are the third busiest search-and-rescue group in B.C., behind North Shore and Squamish. They have about 35 volunteers and are called out to 100 rescues per year.