In September of 2008, we took delivery of a brand new bus. Due to a bunch of strange circumstances, we never had a chance to take an official possession of the keys. In late June, Iain and his family inspected their contribution. Although Iain lives in Chestermere, his bus has been working in the North Rocky View region, taking schools kids and seniors. By taking about 40% of our trips, Iain's bus frees up other vehicles that we've redeployed to the Chestermere region.
Here is Iain (supported by his dad) handing the keys to Handibus board member Jo Ann Miller.
Thanks Iain
March 2009
Annual Reports
We had our AGM and with the Board's approval, we can present these reports to the public. Many thanks to all the folks who helped get us through yet another year.
It went into service today, but the keys were handed over on Feb 3 when the MD of Rocky View issued this Press release....
But we've got better pictures. Plus, we unveiled a bus donated by the family of Iain Cullen Ramsay which has been in service since Sept 2008.
It took us about two years to get here. We started with a need for two buses. Then we decided that we needed three vehicles with an estimated $240,000 budget. EnCana was our anchor donation and we beat under the rocks and trees repeatedly to match EnCana's donation over and over and over again!!!. A couple of service clubs pitched in, a concerned Chestermere resident put up a full bus and the the MD of Rocky View independantly decided to apply some leftover infrastructure money for another matching bus (we told them we were on a hunt for three buses).
It should have cost us $240,000 for three full sized vehicles, but somehow we got two full-sized buses and two wheelchair-accessible minivans for a total price of around $200,000 (Note: a single mini van is about half the cost of a full sized bus -- you could say that we "doubled-down").
The key was a favourable exchange rate on the american dollar. That great exchange rate is gone and we have put the leftover funds from our $240,000 towards our next project. Four to go!
Stay tuned for our Four to Go! campaign
Postponed!!!
2008 Alberta Special Needs Transportation Survey
Several years ago, we mailed out questionaires to groups providing special needs transportation services to Albertans. After five years, we think it's time again to revisit the state of special needs transportation in Alberta. If you are part of a special needs transportation provider in Alberta, we encourgae you to participate in our survey. We are hoping to have all responses by October 31, 2008 December 15th, 2008.
(To be honest.. we've been having trouble finding the time, to promote this survey)
In Spring 2009, we will try to get our house in order to conduct another $500 survey endevouring to reach the opinions of some 100 special transportation providers in Alberta.
August 2008
That's Barry Meeds (right) from ACT delivering their pledge to our Three To Get Ready Campaign.
We started in Fall 2006 with a goal of $160,000 to acquire two new buses. When an uninsured driver hit one of our oldest vehicles, we had to raise the goal in January 2007 to $240,000 to replace buses and expand our fleet. The larger fund-raising goal meant more work but old friends such as Rotary Club of Calgary Olympic,
Associated Canadian Travellers andBurnco Rock Products helped us out yet again (thank-you, thank-you thank-you). New fundraising friends such as the MD of Rocky View, EnCana and a nameless resident of Chestermere were also important contributors to our goal. We also used a significant part of our 2007 casino proceeds (Thank-you to all the volunteers).
Two full-sized handibuses are on order and will arrive in fall 2008. Two wheelchair accessible mini-vans are already in service because of this project (we took this option because two minivans cost about the same as a full sized bus and were available for immediate delivery). Leaving no opportunity wasted, we are applying for yet another matching grant that may let us acquire more buses from this initative.
To summarize; we started looking for two vehicles and we may end up with as many as six by the time we finish. Special thanks to EnCana who committed to this project early and stood by us as our fundraising project grew.
Last month, one of our drivers was overdue for his first pick-up. A couple of phone calls led us to the discovery that while enroute to his first pick-up, our driver had encountered nine bulls on a dark early morning road. As the cattle where distributed across the road, there was little option to avoid them. Although the driver walked away with only some scratches, three bulls were killed instantly. Our new minivan did not fare the incident well but obviously protected its lone passenger (i.e. the driver).
We are pleased to report that insurance is covering the loss and a replacement will be with us next month. Now that everything is resolved, one question remains... What do we call this incident? (please cast your vote)
September 2007
$80,000 Donation Pledge!
Three For The Road just got a big boost. An $80,000 pledge with the stipulation that we find matching funds from the community. This is the largest single donation in our organization's history!. Stay tuned for details of how we will match these funds with other donations and when we'll have rubber meeting the road!
Aug 2007
Our latest delivery!
Thanks to our Fairy Godmother, we transformed our wish for a new bus to arrive as soon as possible into the purchase of two wheelchair accessible mini-vans. These smaller vehicles from Liberty Motors Co will help us with some (but not all) of the current workload. More importantly they were available NOW instead of waiting for nine months. The first arrived in July. The other will arrive in about 4 weeks. We appreciate Fairy Godmother's help plus the help of EnCana, Rotary Club of Calgary Olympic, ACT/UCT and our casino volunteers! We'll have a formal roll-out early this fall!
(unfortunately... this vehicle must always return home before midnight. We suggest that you consult with your own Fairy Godmother for details.)
