Portage Handivan received a shot in the arm today from the Portage Co-op toward the purchase of a new handivan.

Co-op Human Resources Member/Relations person Tammy Hammersley says, "We are presenting Portage Handivan for a cheque of $1,000 to put toward their purchase of a new van hopefully next year."

Hammersley explains why they decided to help the organization. "They play a very big part in our community, and service our seniors, and shuttle them around to different places. And they are the one and only shuttle in town that actually has a wheelchair access ramp. Of course, we like to help our seniors as well, so we thought that would be a good fit."

Handivan associate board member Norman Wiebe says he appreciates the donation.

Norman Wiebe"Every bit helps. We're trying to raise in the neighbourhood of about $70,000. We're about halfway there now. Now, we have one problem. Some of our donations are sort of time-sensitive. If we don't get the money that we need in time, then we're going to have to reapply next year again. We're trying to replace one of our vans. It's the larger van. It's older. The maintenance costs are becoming a lot higher, and we want to try to find something that's a little smaller, a little more economical, and of course newer."

Wiebe says they're up against a deadline of between three to six months.

"A year ago we had a really good chance to get one for $53,000. It was a Mercedes Sprinter -- a very high quality vehicle. But our financing -- our money -- simply didn't come through. So, we ended up having to pass on those, and now the prices are up around $70,000. And of course, with the dollar, everything gets a beating. So, we're trying our best to raise the money to try and replace it."

Wiebe outlines some of the challenges they're up against.

"Our maintenance costs are quite high. We seem to be competing with more and more local shuttle firms and that type of thing all the time. Since we're the only organization that has a wheelchair-friendly vehicle, if you don't ride with a Handivan -- if we're not there -- then you pay about $600 or $800 to ride an ambulance. That's the only alternative. If somebody needs a ride to Winnipeg, and the Handivan isn't available, they have to go by ambulance and that's a pretty steep price. So, we're providing a very valuable service to the community. It sort of is a little sad that we have to be continually scrambling to find funding to maintain our vehicles. Our vehicles are kept up to date. They're regularly maintained and inspected -- everything. So that puts an extra cost on us. When I see some of the other service vehicles around town that are providing rides, and that type of thing, I think they're not quite up to the standards that we have to deal with with our unit."

Delores Gumowsky is the contact person at Handivan for those interested in helping out, and she can be reached at (204) 239-1300.