STARS community engagement office Vanessa Mickel accepts the $25,000 donation from the Fort Macleod STARS volleyball tournament. From left: Mickel, Lindsey Zielinski, Mike Bourassa, Angela Martin, Leanne Neels, Breanne Van Herk, Abby Bourassa, and Lauren Roelofsen.
Fort Macleod Volleyball Club topped its previous record Wednesday with a $25,000 donation to STARS air ambulance.
Club members presented the donation of money raised in April during the annual 60-team volleyball tournament to STARS community engagement officer Vanessa Mickel.
“All of our community fund-raising events go towards operations,” Mickel said. “It goes towards us providing critical care for the next patient.”
Sixty teams competed over three days in competitive, intermediate, recreation and beer league divisions in the annual STARS tournament.
In addition to the $550 per team registration fee, the STARS tournament receives wide community support in terms of donations of cash and in-kind donations.
Last year, the tournament raised what was then a record $22,000 for STARS — enough to fund four missions by the helicopter.
This year the tournament raised a new record $28,000, with the tournament committee keeping $3,000 toward the cost of the 2026 tournament.
STARS once again entered a team in the tournament, for which they gave strong reviews.
“They loved it,” Mickel said. “They had so much fun. They cannot wait for next year.”
The STARS team was made up of people from the emergency link centre, corporate services and a former VIP (very important patient) Hugh Watson, who was also keynote speaker at the tournament banquet.
Watson told a harrowing story of a crash that nearly killed him and the difference that STARS air ambulance made in his life.
“To this day, I truly believe the reason I’m able to be up here telling this story is because of the fast, life-saving actions of the STARS team that night,” Watson told the audience.
Watson was so severely injured in the crash doctors did not expect him to even walk again — let alone play volleyball.
Fort Macleod’s coed volleyball tournament has raised more than $178,000 for STARS.
Mickel commended tournament organizers and the Fort Macleod community for their ongoing support for STARS.
“I think it’s great this community can raise that much money for STARS,” Mickel said. “It should encourage other little towns to raise money for STARS too.”
Mike Bourassa said the volleyball club decided to fund-raise for STARS because the service is so vital, and most people know someone who has benefitted.
“STARS is for everybody,” Bourassa said. “This is a big weekend for the town itself. Everybody gets behind it.”
Mickel agreed.
“STARS is built by the community, for the community,” Mickel said.
STARS air ambulances have flown more than 60,000 missions across western Canada since 1985.
In 2023-’24, STARS flew 3,927 missions from its six bases in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
That total included 1,720 in Alberta — at a cost of about $5,400 apiece.
STARS helicopters average eight or nine missions a year in Fort Macleod.
