Sturgeon County levelled up their partnership with STARS Air Ambulance on Thursday (Mar. 23).
The County announced that it had become the first municipality in central Alberta to contribute more than $500,000 to STARS.
Accomplishing this milestone means that the Sturgeon County logo will now be featured on STARS helicopters.
“This is what we mean when we say STARS was built by the community, for the community,” said Andrea Robertson, STARS president and CEO. “We hope everyone in Sturgeon County feels a sense of pride when you see your logo on the helicopter, knowing that you are helping us save lives."
"We are very grateful for this support and this solid relationship.”
County mayor Alanna Hnatiw says the county will wear the milestone as a badge of honour.
“We are proud to support STARS and the lifesaving work it does, both in our community and throughout Alberta,” said Hnatiw. “Contributions to STARS help keep their helicopters in the air, which means our residents and our neighbours continue to have access to critical medical care when they need it most.”
The milestone is the result of a decades-long partnership with STARS, starting all the way back in 2006 when Alberta Health Services took over rural voluntary ambulance service.
The fire chief at the time, Bart Clark, suggested that the county redirect those funds to go toward STARS.
"Luckily, subsequent councils have continued to provide that service and now it's a $50,000 a year budget line item," said Hnatiw. "That's how we ended up being the first municipality in central Alberta to contribute that sum of money."
STARS has been an integral part of keeping people in Sturgeon County safe. Hnatiw says their helicopters have touched ground in the region quite a bit.
"As of 2022, they have landed 22 times," said Hnatiw. "It's consistently been a growing service that we have required."
This is just the latest in a series of contributions from Sturgeon County to protective services.
"We contribute over $1 million a year toward policing and that just came in, I believe, 2018-2019 so those are new contributions," said Hnatiw.
"For years we have been contributing to the fire services all around Sturgeon County, in the five towns within [the county]."
To read more about what STARS does and how to help them out, click here.