With only three drivers for the summer months, the Lions Handi-van service is looking for more volunteers to help provide transportation to area residents in need.
The number of drivers has been cut in half since the winter months, and while driver Murray Steves said there are fewer calls in the summer, it is still busy.
“I did 15 trips just today,” Steves said on Thursday evening.
While the organization had six drivers last winter, Steves said that number will likely drop to five for the coming winter. Ideally, he said, the Handi-van service needs at least eight drivers for a fair rotation.
“When we have all the drivers, we’re at about one week a month each,” said Steves, “but we’re short those three drivers for the summer months.”
Drivers rotate on a two- and three-day schedule. They drive for two days, have three days off, then drive for three days with the next two days off.
Longtime driver LaVerne Hinzman said the job can be physically demanding and they are in need of more able bodies to help.
“It can be physically demanding if you have to pick someone up in a wheelchair or other circumstances,” said Hinzman. “Some of us are getting older now and…we can’t all do it anymore.”
The van helps to provide transportation services for seniors and people with physical disabilities who require extra care.
Whether it is a shopping trip or a run to the Northern Lights Manor, Steves said every run is important.
The organization has two vehicles, but typically only one runs at a time. The van holds up to
10 passengers, though Hinzman said it is seldom full.
“I just don’t want to see [seniors] without transportation,” said Steves “I know some of them can’t afford the taxi fares. If you’re going uptown…and back, that’s $24, and a lot of them can’t afford it.”
The Handi-van operates by donation.
It’s more than a taxi service, said Steves.
“I know them all,” he said of the passengers.
“I ask if they have their keys, and some of them I make them show me before we leave.”
More than just offering a ride, Steves said the drivers also provide a sense of inclusion and community to the passengers.
The Northern Lights Manor has a recurring sports day during which seniors play cards and other games such as bean bag toss with the residents.
“We pick them up at [their homes] and bring them to the manor, and then pick them back up and drop them off,” said Steves.
The manor run is a frequent request. Other runs, including shopping trips, keep the days busy for drivers.
“We have one senior in Creighton we pick up every day and drop him off to the Personal Care Home, and then pick him up and drop him off at home,” said Steves. “I had one lady say [she] didn’t know what she would do without the service, asking how they would get around.”
Kim Steele used the Handi-van services for her son, Ryan Nelson, while he was in school. Nelson has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.
“It was great, as the Handi-van has a lift for wheelchairs,” said Steele. “Ryan had some good, fun times with the drivers on his trips to and from school. I remember some pretty funny comments from the EAs [education assistants] about some of the drivers in his school journal.
“They made him feel like he was just another crazy kid,” she said. “I’m not sure what we would [have done] without that service.”
Both routine and new requests keep the bus busy, and Steves hopes to be able to share the schedule with more drivers.
This isn’t the first time the service has seen a lull in drivers. Hinzman said in the past the service has had to shut down for
a few weeks over the summer.
Hinzman has been a driver for 25 years. He said the Handi-van is a required service in the community.
“You feel guilty if you can’t get to someone to pick them up. It can be hard to take.”
“I think we’ll get through it,” Steves said about the shortage of drivers, “but it would be nice to have a few more.”
Anyone interested in becoming a driver can contact Hinzman at 306-688-3429 or Rick Hurst at 204-687-7649.
