Southern Star Search & Rescue SoS-SAR

09/02/2026

We are so grateful for the support of Pine Meadow Vet and the community. (our original post somehow got deleted) but it does not diminish the gratitude we feel to be blessed with support. It takes a lot of support to take a pup, raise it, tend to its medical needs, train it, attend seminars, and take off 2-3 days for certification annually. We also have many command center and team expenses to be able to provide a professional Search and Rescue response. Hence, every donation is critical in building and maintaining this service. We thank you so much for your support!

We were able to help raise $1,261 cash for Southern Star Search and Rescue! Thank you to everyone that bought a raffle ticket in July! You helped support a great group of individuals that selflessly donate their time and resources to our community.

06/07/2026

Our team is very thankful for Baldwin EMC in matching the CoBank Sharing Success Grant! As our team continues to grow, these grants are crucial and will allow us to purchase GPS equipment, bring in search and rescue technician education and certification evaluators to keep our team skills not only current but certified for field work. We continue to provide search and rescue services to law enforcement free of charge and our team is so blessed to be able to serve in Baldwin County as well as many surrounding rural counties.

06/07/2026

We would like to thank IBM for their donation recognizing Sam Strite for his volunteer efforts as the Treasurer of Southern Star Search & Rescue SoS-SAR.

03/19/2026

Our team thanks the J.L. Bedsole Foundation for awarding a grant to Southern Star Search & Rescue SoS-SAR. Unlike other teams that are having trouble getting volunteers, our team continues to grow at a rapid pace and with young volunteers from both Baldwin and Mobile counties. We need to scale up our equipment purchases and education opportunities for these new applicants. We are also in the process of scheduling our summer events in both counties. Our team is very grateful for your continued support which allows us to improve our response capabilities and build for the future!

02/11/2026

01/13/2026

Southern Star Search & Rescue SoS-SAR was honored to be selected as the recipient of proceeds from the December 2025 Santa's Follies Charity Golf Tournament which is organized by the Glenlakes Ladies Golf Association. The LGA worked hard and enlisted the support of the Glenlakes golf course, the members, and our community to run a very successful charity golf tournament. The feeling of support and community was overwhelming and humbling!

The proceeds are already helping us retrofit our team vehicle that was purchased in 2025 into a vehicle that can tow our command center and house up to 5 K9's for searches, trainings and events. These upgrades were desperately needed and are still ongoing but the timing of the funding is critical for some upcoming K9 seminars and meetings. Before and after pictures are shown below of the work that has already been done in 2026.

We can't thank our supporters enough and are extremely grateful of the fundraising efforts of the Glenlakes Ladies Golf Association. These changes will make a huge difference in our team's response options. Thank you!

12/04/2025

Many thanks to all who have supported our team. It allows us to put on multi-agency cross training events. We recently completed a training with Bay County Search and Rescue. It was a great day of training and fellowship. We hope to be able to continue these types of events as we work to share skills, ideas and best practices with other teams and develop working relationships.

08/20/2025

Many thanks to Pine Meadow Vet Clinic in Pensacola, FL for their fund raising effort which comes at a very important time. We are equipping our new truck to be able to safely carry K9's along with towing our command trailer. We value this incredible partnership and their clients that made this fund raising successful. Three of our K9's also give them a thumbs up for their care (Kiva and Alina pictured below).

05/16/2025

Our team thanks to the J.L. Bedsole Foundation for awarding a grant to Southern Star Search & Rescue SoS-SAR for the purchase of equipment and to support our summer kids programs. Our team is growing at a rapid pace and we need updated GPS equipment to track team movements in the field. Our team is very grateful for your support which allows us to improve our response capabilities!