The Villa needs a new bus, and they need some help to get it.
A few years ago, the St. Mary's Villa Foundation (SMVF) in Humboldt started fundraising to purchase a new wheelchair accessible bus for use by the over 100 residents of the level four care home in Humboldt.
They had hoped to complete this campaign by the end of 2012.
However, due to some increases in the price of such buses, and the type of wheelchair lift needed for their residents, they find themselves considerably short of their new fundraising goal.
According to Donna Muench of the SMVF, they have about $70,000 raised, but they need about $70,000 more.
The price they were given five years ago when they embarked on this campaign is not the same today, Muench noted.
"Customizing the bus to our needs costs significantly more than we originally thought," she said.
SMV has continued to receive many cuts to its budget, Muench noted, which has made it very difficult to come up with the funds for the bus when funding for other equipment is also greatly needed.
"Funding of capital projects continues to be a significant challenge," she said, the result of which is that they have to rely entirely on donations for the bus purchase.
They are hoping to get those donations in as soon as possible - within a year's time - because their old bus isn't working so well.
"To make matters worse, our current bus may not take us through this winter," Muench reported.
The bus has issues with its heater that Muench has been told cannot be fixed.
The bus also had air conditioning problems this summer that caused the cancellation of some outings for Villa residents.
The bus is used to take residents to medical appointments, pick up clients who attend the Villa's community day program, and is used to drive residents to fun outings, like hockey games, concerts, plays and much-anticipated drives in the country, Muench reported.
That drive in the country was one thing they had to cancel this year, Muench said, as it was just too hot to take residents in the bus without air conditioning.
The residents of SMV are doing what they can to help this campaign. They held an envelope-stuffing bee in early December, Muench reported.
"They wanted to do their part," she said.
Other supporters of the Villa also came to the bee, to stuff envelopes with letters asking for donations to their cause. The letters went out last week.
Some fundraising events are also in the planning stages, Muench noted.
St. Mary's Villa, an interdenominational care home, consists of 101 beds for individuals requiring constant care, including a 33-bed dementia unit. Also attached to the facility are 11 suites for assisted living clients, and a community day program.
