The Crisis Team Jasper Society is launching a 2025 fundraising calendar featuring firefighters amid the landscape following the recent wildfires.
Every dollar raised will go toward the society’s mission of supporting individuals in Jasper experiencing trauma or tragedy.
“We’re grateful for the unwavering support from our community and the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade,” said chair Kelly Dawson in a media release. “Together, we’re making an impact that goes beyond crisis response, strengthening resilience and community well-being.”
Operating since 2007, the Crisis Team mans a phoneline that agencies – the RCMP, health-care staff, outreach workers and others – can call when they have a patient, visitor or community member in crisis and in need of support.
A crisis can be anything from a mental health incident to an unforeseen tragedy, most calls coming when a majority of Jasper is asleep. The phoneline runs 365 days per year on evenings and weekends.
“Basically, someone in crisis would go, for example, to the emergency room if it’s after hours and then that nurse or doctor would call the Crisis Team and ask us for support with logistics,” said Lisa Darrah, a support worker with the Crisis Team.
Such supports include arranging hotel rooms for those who do not have anywhere else to stay. Darrah noted that fundraising is the primary source of funds for the phoneline and logistical support for crisis clients.
The Crisis Team’s major fundraiser is the annual golf tournament at Jasper Park Lodge, but because this tournament was cancelled due to the wildfire, the Crisis Team is launching the calendar new fundraising initiative, with the help of the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade.
Darrah said this was the first time they had launched a fundraising calendar and would likely continue putting one out each year if successful.
The images, taken by Kinfolk Photography, primarily depict local firefighters amid the aftermath of the Jasper Wildfire Complex.
“The pictures are impactful and inspiring,” Darrah said. “Each firefighter, if they are a skier or they’re a hobbyist, we’ve kind of tried to include that into a shot, so you’ll have firefighters standing in the forest with skis on their shoulders.”
Darrah described the Crisis Team as “a humble, after-hours, covert organization” that gets referrals from frontline organizations and does not publicly advertise its services unless they are fundraising.
“These funds go to providing this after-hours service to visitors and locals,” she added. “So, we’re not we don’t have any boundaries around who we support. It’s just they’re in Jasper and they’re in crisis. It doesn’t matter.”
Calendars will be available on the Crisis Team Society’s website.
