VANCOUVER -- A West Vancouver 15-year-old is making and selling masks to raise money for local search-and-rescue team.
It’s not the first time Camden Hussey has come forward to support North Shore Rescue. The teen has already raised $15,000 from making and selling toques for North Shore Rescue and $2,300 from NSR-branded socks.
His fundraising efforts were inspired by a personal story: a relative, rescued by NSR after becoming lost while hiking when Hussey was in Grade 2.
“I felt I had to give back,” says Hussey.
His latest endeavour is two-layer black and blue masks that have an “NSR Supporter” logo on them.
NSR says the masks include a disposable filter, with an exterior polyester layer and an inner layer made of cotton.
“We are grateful,” says Mike Danks, NSR team leader, who adds the team relies on community support to fund programs. “Camden’s support allows us to concentrate more on training.”
Danks points to programs like NSR’s new night vision program that he says receives no government funding.
“Helicopter training for one day costs $10,000; without community support, how would we pay for that?”
Danks and some of the other NSR volunteers have developed a personal relationship with Hussey.
“It’s really neat to have this relationship with Camden, says Danks. “We’ve seen him grow and become more and more engaged.”
“Mike is a North Shore hero,” says Hussey, who calls Danks a mentor.
Hussey, a Grade 11 student at St. Thomas Aquinas in North Vancouver, is going back to socks for his next NSR fundraising endeavour this summer.
NSR deserves the support, says Hussey.
“You never know when you’ll need them.”
The teen says he’s not sure yet if he will become a NSR volunteer himself. His post-secondary plan includes attending the marketing and sales program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
