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The Kurow Volunteer Fire Brigade is set to benefit from an out-of-the-box fundraiser — 40 calves.
The fundraising initiative will see 40 Belgian Blue-cross calves reared by farmers throughout the Waitaki Valley sold with the profits going back to the brigade.
Qualified Firefighter Ashely Wilson co-ordinated the initiative and told the Oamaru Mail it all began when he took over treasury for the brigade and began pondering “what can we do to raise funds?”
He eventually landed on the idea of rearing calves.
“I sort of floated the idea around and I talked to an agent that I’d been dealing with … he thought it might be a better idea to take calves from weaning and place them on farms and just rear them while they can graze them for six months and then sell them all.
“Just something slightly different to the rearing because there’s a few people that do the rearing from four days to weaning and sell them at, say, 100 kilos.
“So we just thought it would be a slightly different space to that and it sort of just grew from there.”
The initiative mimics a commercial operation in which the brigade has actually bought the calves and then the profit will be what is raised.
“Hopefully it’s a good price on the day.”
QFF Wilson hoped to have them sold later this month.
Senior Station Officer John Abelen said the money would not be used for “getting the truck out the door” but rather for extra things.
“If we can supply a facility here that is comfortable, that people actually want to be in, stay in and be part of the brigade in, it helps for recruitment and retention.”
The brigade has 14 members and averages about 50 calls a year, Chief Fire Officer Kieran Sparks said.
“We’ll have busy periods and quiet periods, so sometimes you might be out two or three times a day and other times you might not be out for three months.
“The bulk of what we do is probably a balance between vegetation [fires] and motor vehicle accidents.”
QFF Wilson said they would love more members — especially those that live or work in town.
Most of the brigade were farmers who worked out of town so if the alarm went, “you’re talking a significant time before we can turn the truck out at the moment, which is not ideal for us and the community”.
He was very grateful for all the work the farmers have put into the initiative.
The brigade will host a gathering for the graziers as a thank you
“They can have a look around and ask questions, and hopefully it spreads a bit of word and someone might want to join out of it.”