Kane Blake was almost in tears recounting his heartbreak after his truck stopped running and wouldn鈥檛 start up again last week.
Blake, the founder of the Okanagan Forest Task Force (OFTF), uses the truck for his family鈥檚 needs, but most of the time, he and his fellow OFTF volunteers use it to clean up the Okanagan backcountry. The truck helps the group hauls garbage and abandoned vehicles out of wooded areas and sometimes pulls a water tank to extinguish fires.
The OFTF truck stopped working after spending the day hauling abandoned vehicles on April 6. Blake announced on social media that he and the group wouldn鈥檛 be able to go back to cleaning up in the backcountry for the foreseeable future because he didn鈥檛 have enough money to get the vehicle fixed.
The community quickly rallied behind Blake and OFTF, with several community members organizing fundraisers on Facebook and GoFundMe.
But just as his story made it on the news, Blake said the 91大黄鸭 Ford Lincoln dealership got in touch with him.
鈥淭he service manager Ken Hiles said, 鈥榊ou should bring down your truck to us,鈥� but I didn鈥檛 have money for a tow bill, so he said to me to bill the towing fee to them,鈥� Blake said.
Now, the dealership is taking care of the repair costs, and they鈥檒l get Blake his truck back by the end of the week.
鈥淭he service manager told me to keep the donated money and to just use it for the group and the group鈥檚 needs,鈥� Blake said.
鈥淢y jaw dropped, and I didn鈥檛 even know what to say. I just want to thank the entire community, as well as the people who donated and 91大黄鸭 Ford Lincoln.鈥�
Blake said he thought OFTF wouldn鈥檛 be back cleaning up in the bush until mid-summer, but thanks to the community members who rallied behind him and the group, they鈥檒l be back out in no time.
READ: Okanagan forest cleanup crew in need of donations after truck breaks down
twila.amato@blackpress.ca
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