Couple collects 32,000 beer cans, gives refund to search group

If you laid 32,000 beer cans end-to-end they’d stretch 2.94 kilometres. If you crushed them, they’d fill 111 garbage bags. And if you wanted to support your favourite charity, you’d bring those cans to a recycling depot and donate the $3,200 cheque to Central Okanagan Search and Rescue.

That is exactly what Raymond Imbeau and partner Barbara Kitz did last week. The two spent their summer vacation travelling the 80-plus kilometres of the 201 Forest Service Road from near the Idabel Lake turnoff to Okanagan Falls picking up beer cans.

Over the summer the two spent eight weeks camping in the Okanagan backcountry and travelling the 201 on their Can-Am ATV. And every time they saw a can, Ray would stab it and put it in a bag.

“There were days we would fill the bags on the front and back of the ATV, plus Barb, who was riding behind me, would often have a full bag in each hand,” Ray said.

This is the third year that Ray and Barb have made a donation to COSAR. In 2018 they cashed in 8,000 cans. In 2019 they ended up with 20,000. Barb says Bud Light and Old Milwaukee seem to be the most popular beverages of backcountry slobs.

“But we’re seeing more craft beer. We even found a can for a garlic and basil beer. I mean, what?” Barb said.

To date, Ray and Barb have travelled over 25,000 kilometres on their trusty Can-Am and have donated $5,700 to COSAR. COSAR used the money to help buy a TrailRider wheeled chair to use when extracting an injured subject that can’t walk but doesn’t require a stretcher.

“They are some of the most generous supporters we have,” COSAR president Dan Schlosser said. “We rely on fundraising to stay fully operational and this certainly helps.”