$14,000 collected for Donate A Ride

Edmonton’s Donate A Ride Program collected more than $14,000 at City Hall Friday to kick off another year providing transportation to Edmontonians in need.

The program has raised more than $1.6 million since it started 16 years ago, city Coun. Dave Loken said at the Donate A Ride launch Friday.

“It really helps people who aren’t in a position to help themselves get around the city,” Loken said.

The partnership between the city, charities and Edmonton businesses provides single transit tickets to workers at service agencies who in turn distribute those tickets to lowincome Edmontonians who need a lift, Loken said.

ATCO Gas and several civic unions made donations to the program on Friday morning. ATCO Gas has supported Donate A Ride for the past seven years, said company vice-president Keith Carter, who presented a $5,000 donation Friday.

“Donate A Ride is about more than just handing out bus tickets,” Carter said. “It’s about opening doors of opportunity to those in need, whether it is a ride to a job interview, the doctor’s office, grocery store or to the school.”

The program makes a big difference in people’s lives, Mayor Stephen Mandel said.

“I hope that 2013 can be as successful as 2012, which was a giant year, with 91,000 tickets (distributed).”

Donations to Donate A Ride can be made using the small envelopes ETS drivers provide, through a Donate A Ride kiosk on the Churchill LRT platform, through the United Way or online at www.donatearide.ab.ca.