David Palmer (53) died while hiking in May, but the two-week search and rescue operation to find him has not been forgotten by the tramper's friends.
Clare Fraser, of Dunedin, said a group of his friends had organised a raffle to raise money for the volunteers who had shown such dedication during the exhaustive search. She said 1000 raffle tickets were sold around Dunedin, raising $1091.
"The support from people once they found out what it was all for was amazing - people have even been coming up to us and donating money without buying a ticket - people have been so generous."
Mr Palmer's body was recovered on May 21 in the Dingle Burn area of the conservation park by members of North Otago Sar teams, and a friend of Mr Palmer's, all working voluntarily, after an official police search was scaled down six days earlier.
North Otago Search and Rescue (Nosar) need $150,000 to buy a new command unit, and Mrs Fraser said Mr Palmer's friends had been keen to help.
"We were so grateful to the search and rescue teams for the amazing dedication they showed in looking for Dave ... we had to show our support for the brilliant work they do."
