Partnerships Help Save Lives

MORE THAN 16 YEARS OF SUSTAINED SUPPORT

It’s been 16 years since STARS opened a base in Grande Prairie to serve northern residents and industry personnel who work throughout the vast, remote region. STARS relies on our donors to be there for the next patient in need, and industry has played a significant role in our history.

The local Birchcliff Energy staff were some of the first to walk through our doors, offering a donation and asking how they could help. With STARS scarcely known in the region, we hoped to raise awareness of our services. From that conversation, the Birchcliff Energy and Friends Charitable Golf Tournament for STARS was born. Birchcliff embraced this opportunity to help enhance the health and safety network for their employees, and for all field workers, through its partnership with STARS. This year, we celebrated the 15th annual tournament and recognized more than $1.7 million raised to support STARS since 2007.

For Birchcliff’s 10th anniversary in 2015, they donated $100,000 to STARS to provide a full complement of upgraded intubation blades — a crucial component in airway management, particularly in cases of collapsed lungs, heart failure and trauma. This gift supports critical care for adult and pediatric patients across Western Canada.

As STARS embarked on our Keep the Fight in Flight campaign in 2018 to renew STARS’ aging aircraft fleet, Birchcliff was there to help. The total commitment to the fleet campaign, aside from the golf tournament, is an astonishing $3 million, making Birchcliff Energy the single largest corporate donor to the STARS fleet campaign in Alberta.

Birchcliff Energy is a community and industry leader, with the ability to see STARS as a vital health link to communities throughout Northern Alberta. The significance the company places on safety for their employees and business partners is inspiring.