Jamaican bobsled team finds fast generosity in Calgary after van breaks down

Perhaps it's the special connection the team has to Calgary, but it didn't take long for the Jamaican bobsled team to find a lift to B.C. after its van broke down in Calgary. 

The team was only stranded in the city that provided the backdrop for Cool Runnings for a day after pleas for help and media reports led to a rescue.

Kathleen Pulito, the director of social and digital media for the team, said Driving Force — a vehicle rental and leasing company — is lending them a 12-person van and giving them $2,500 for gas and food. 

She said repairs to the team's van would have cost thousands of dollars, money the team does not have. 

"Funding is an issue," she said. "We have $1,700 in our account and we have to feed 12 athletes. It's hand to mouth."

The team does not have any stable funding and relies on fundraising and online campaigns in order to keep the sleds sliding. 

"Our coaches aren't even here because we can't afford to pay them and they have mouths to feed," she said. 

Two new members of the team who had never left Jamaica prior to this adventure drove the now-dead van all the way from New York City before its inglorious ending on a busy city roadway. 

The team was picked up on the side of the road in Calgary and made it to the race. David Schnerch, who gave the team a lift, even lent them a vehicle to get around the city while they're here. 

Pulito said Calgary is the best place they could break down, but they were in a rush to try and raise money and get back on the road so the team could make a race in Whistler, B.C., on Monday. 

The team has a long connection with the city, making its debut in the 1988 winter Olympics here — an unlikely underdog story that was featured in the movie Cool Runnings.

That unlikely story continues all these years later. 

"It's the Jamaican spirit. They have a lot of pride, a lot of determination," said Pulito when asked why the team carries on despite the odds. 

"We're not giving up. They will not give up. As long as we can get funding there will always be a Jamaican bobsled team."

The donation from Driving Force means the team is back on the road, at least as far as Whistler, and has a bit more cash in its pocket. But finances are still tight. 

Pulito said there is still an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to keep the team running.

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