LITTLE CURRENT—A former Angel Bus has found a new home at Manitoulin Centennial Manor, now operating as an outing shuttle for the residents of the long-term care facility in Little Current.
“It took me nine years to get this bus,” said Julie Omnet, “ever since I first started this has been a dream of mine.”
“The board was fully behind this,” said Manor Administrator Don Cook. “They quickly realized that this would be a great thing for the residents.”
The bus can currently carry up to 10 passengers, noted Ms. Omnet. “I can drive it with a G licence if there are 10 or less if we wanted to take more I would need an F licence. We have three more seats we could put in.”
Currently, however, there are no plans to expand Ms. Omnet’s licence.
While the bus can only carry 10 residents on outings, everyone has an opportunity to get out and about on an outing, taking turns.
“This bus really makes a difference for our residents,” said Ms. Omnet, who noted having access to the bus will relieve pressure on the activities budget. Previously, the Manor would hire a bus from a local company, which not only proved to be expensive, but also created scheduling issues, as the bus company wanted to either shut down the service during the summer months or the Manor would have to commit to a certain number of outings through the period.
“The summer is when I really need the bus,” noted Ms. Omnet. “That’s when we can get out the most.” Renting a bus for the number of times the bus company needed to be able to supply the service would have put too large a strain on the vehicle. “The bus company was really great to us,” said Ms. Omnet, but the number of rentals needed simply wasn’t in the cards.
Enter the news that Gore Bay’s Angel Bus group was getting a new vehicle.
“I called up to find out how much it would cost to purchase the old Angel Bus,” said Ms. Omnet. “They already had an offer, but when they discovered why we wanted it, they said they would rather sell it to us.” In fact, the Angel Bus operators even came down quite a bit in the asking price.
“We have been very fortunate to have generous donors,” said Ms. Omnet. “We will be continuing to raise funds to help operate the bus.”
The plan, explains Mr. Cook, is to sell advertising space on the bus. “For, say, a thousand dollars a year, we print out your banner and place it on the bus.” Mr. Cook explained that the hope is to not cut into the Tree of Lights or other fundraising efforts.
Anyone interested in sponsoring the bus are advised to contact Mr. Cook at Manitoulin Centennial Manor to work out the details.
