Decommissioned buses to be sent to Mexico
Transfer part of Lethbridge Rotary Club’s Los Amigos project
Lethbridge city council voted unanimously during its public meeting to approve the transfer of two decommissioned AccessA-Ride buses to the Lethbridge Rotary Club’s Los Amigos project.
The two donated vehicles are about 10 years old, and have miled out their useful life and come with some maintenance issues, but are still considered roadworthy, confirmed Lethbridge Transit officials. The value of the vehicles is estimated at about $5,000 each.
Over the past eight years the Los Amigos Project has taken 41 surplus service vehicles from all over southern Alberta to Mexico, and the City of Lethbridge has been a frequent donor during that time.
Rotarians Karl Samuels and Jim Campbell presented a certificate of appreciation to Mayor Chris Spearman and the other members of city council Monday acknowledging the City’s ongoing generosity to their work in Mexico.
Besides the two Access-A-Ride buses donated by the City this year, Samuels, who serves as Los Amigos Project coordinator, said the Rotary Club had also received a donated fire truck from the Town of Olds and ambulance from the Town of Pincher Creek, bringing the total number of vehicles donated, so far, to four.
“Vehicles up here have a certain lifespan after which they are taken out of service,” explained Samuels, “or it is too expensive to continually repair them. Once they get down to Mexico they have basically a second life. We have been taking vehicles there for the past eight years, and all of them are still in use to this day. They find ways to fix these vehicles and make the best use of them.”
Volunteer drivers make the trek to Mexico each fall from Lethbridge to bring the service vehicles to needy communities there.
“It makes you feel good to see these things are actually being used,” stated Samuels. “Up here, we just dispose of so much stuff. When these things go down there they use them, and are happy to get it.”
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