This is an absolutely amazing charity to support!!
I was made aware of this amazing company HEART (Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team) this summer when friends of ours lost their friend at Lake Diefenbaker on July 1st, 2021. The 36-year-old man jumped out of a boat to rescue some children that were in distress and did not resurface after diving in. As this lake is a mammoth, rescue efforts were difficult.
The body was located due to the efforts and involvement of HEART.
I would like to make you aware of their efforts and heart and mention that if you are looking for something to support, this would be well worth it!
The families of these victims do not pay for their services, this company relies on Sponsors and Donations.
https://www.hearteam.ca hearteaminc@gmail.com
Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team – HEART - is a certified dive team from the Oakbluff Colony located 7 miles east of Morris Manitoba.
The mission of HEART is to reunite drowning victims with their families in a timely fashion using sophisticated and modern Sonar Equipment. Losing a loved one through drowning is devastating. For those left behind, every night without a recovery brings additional heartache, which can last for days, weeks or even months.
As the team has evolved over the years through training and experience, they have watched the scene calls grow from other Hutterite colonies to the general public across Canada. State of the art equipment that exceeds that of other public sectors has made HEART a well respected and sought out resource for water recoveries.
Why? In 1998, 7-year-old Jonathan Maendel went missing, and after days of searching, the RCMP dive team recovered his young body in a local gravel pit. This impacted the Maendel brothers, who began their journey, that is now HEART.
Over the years HEART has gone through extensive training and certifications to aid in these recoveries. Their certification includes ice diving, commercial diving, dry suit diving, rescue diving, deep water diving, as well as many others. However, in recent years the team has received much experience and training with sonar and have focused much of their finances on obtaining cutting-edge equipment such as: multi beam sonar, side scan sonar, transom mount sonar, underwater videoRay ROV (remote operated vehicle) with a Whaly 500R 16ft polyethylene rescue boat (virtually indestructible), and currently they are awaiting the arrival of a rescue hovercraft. These certifications and equipment have been gathered at their own expense.
As a registered charity, HEART provides these services free of charge.
With over 40 recoveries throughout Canada, their love for people has reached beyond the borders Manitoba. I have spoken with numerous families from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario who have been directly impacted by the HEART team recovery efforts.
They have brought the much-needed closure to begin the grieving and healing process.
HEART does not see color, race, gender or background. They see an opportunity to bring hope into the lives of families in their darkest hour.
Join with them in their efforts by providing Donations or becoming a Sponsor today!
https://www.hearteam.ca hearteaminc@gmail.com
