Donations to the Jasper Seniors Bus have nearly quintupled since the seniors society made a plea for community support last November.
In 2014, the society received around $17,000 in donations, compared to $3,500 the year before.
“We’ve had a very good response from the community and from individuals, not just organizations,” said Glenda Cornforth, the society’s president.
In November, the society announced that its reserve funds—which have kept the bus on the road for the past few years—were running low.
In its plea, the society asked that the community pitch in, either by offering donations or by taking over the operation of the bus all together.
With the funds that have poured in over the past few months, it has ensured the bus will remain on the road for at least another year of operation, beyond the three years the seniors society anticipated.
In hopes of extending that, the society’s treasurer, Bob Worsfold has been working on a lottery grant proposal that would match donations made to the society before Nov. 30 of last year.
“One of our problems that we ran into is that Nov. 30 is the cut off date for donations and we got an exceptional amount of donations after that, because we just started the campaign,” he explained.
“So in December and January we got quite significant contributions in those two months and they’re not eligible for matching funds.”
If the society isn’t selected for a grant, it could reapply in August and include all of the donations that were received after Nov. 30.
Despite the success of the society’s fundraising campaign, Worsfold said the current executive board still wants to find someone else to take over operation of the bus.
He said that transfer could happen either when the society runs out of funds or when the bus reaches the end of its life—whichever comes first.
The society has been in touch with the municipality, asking that it consider taking it on, and it is now waiting for a response.
The seniors bus has been operating in Jasper since 1994, each Friday bringing seniors to town to run errands and visit the doctor, and once a month to Hinton for medical appointments. Prior to 2010, it received provincial funding for its operational costs. But that year the funding was cut and the municipality stepped in, covering the cost to ensure the service would continue for the year.
Then in 2011, the seniors society received a one-time provincial grant. Since then, it has been on the society’s shoulders to come up with the funds to provide Jasper’s seniors with safe transportation to and from town.
Worsfold said in the past few months, the community has become much more aware of the bus and the valuable service it provides to the community.
“I think that’s an important thing,” he said, noting that one of the positive things that has come out of the fundraising campaign is a partnership between the seniors society and Jasper Healthcare Foundation.
“The reason we did that,” said Cornforth of the partnership, “is because they can issue tax receipts for [donations].”
That’s something the seniors society can’t do because it’s not a registered charity.
Anyone interested in donating to the bus is encouraged to address cheques to the Jasper Healthcare Foundation and to earmark it for the Jasper Seniors Society bus fund.
For those seniors interested in catching the bus into town on Fridays, call 780-852-3447.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
