PRAIRIE, Idaho — A small town with a big community. In Prairie, Idaho, a tiny town with just 100 full-time residents, the Prairie Quick Response Unit (QRU) continues to expand its emergency services thanks to sponsors, small fundraisers throughout the year, and its annual auction event.
For six years, this event has brought together community members from across the region, raising tens of thousands of dollars to support the Prairie QRU—a volunteer-based emergency medical service that receives no state or federal funding in Idaho.
The fundraiser, held every October, has steadily increased in popularity, with attendance often doubling or tripling the town's population.
Stephanie Lewis, a Prairie QRU volunteer EMT, says the income, typically pulling in between $20,000 and $50,000 each year.
This year's event was especially significant because they recently marked a milestone of finishing, for the most part, their long-awaited storage facility for the unit's emergency vehicles.
The facility, which was built in phases over several years, now provides much-needed protection for their equipment, especially the fire truck that previously couldn't be kept filled with water during winters due to freezing temperatures.
The Prairie QRU volunteers and other community member volunteers take pride in partially constructing the building themselves, little by little.
The foundation was poured after the first year of fundraising, followed by framing, roofing, and siding in subsequent years.
Despite the challenges of currently being a 13-person volunteer unit with limited funding, the Prairie QRU operates around the clock, responding to emergencies of all kind.
"We see everything from medical to gunshot wounds to hiking injuries. And so we just have to be ready to come to the call, whatever it is," Lewis told KTVB Saturday.
Alan Roberts, Elmore Count EMS Director, stressed the need for state funding to support volunteer emergency services like Prairie's QRU, noting that making it an essential services could allow for more resource opportunities.
Roberts said, "if we could get it to where it's an essential service, then it opens up for federal, state funding. It helps make everyone realize that this is a necessity, just like law enforcement, fire departments."
Even with these challenges, the Prairie QRU is still looking to expand in the future, with volunteers, equipment, and funding.
The unit's next goal is to add a training facility, including a storage room for training materials, and especially, a bathroom.
Volunteers are confident that, with continued support from the Prairie and surrounding communities, they can meet their goals.
"If there's a need, people will show up," Lewis said. "And that's what I think is just so neat about this prairie community."