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Weyburn Care-A-Van Society, a non-profit dedicated to ensuring accessible transportation for those who need it in our community, held its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, with eight members in attendance via Zoom.
The highlight from 2023 was replacing their previous Care-A-Van with a 2022 Chrysler Grand Caravan STX with a BraunAbility commercial rear-entry manual folding ramp, which can be rented at a flat rate by community members who need it, and can be driven by anyone who has a valid driver's license. Anyone who needs to book a trip can phone 306-861-2219.
Read more: Weyburn Care-A-Van Society unveils new accessible vehicle
During the AGM, past Chair Myron Fletcher stepped in for the meeting on behalf of Chair Scott Moffat, in absentia. Moffat represents the Young Fellows Club of Weyburn.
Board members include Yvonne Jones as Secretary, representing the Care-A-Van Society, the City Representative is Laura Morrissette, and Marie Reeve represents Kin Canada.
Members at Large are Marga Cugnet (who formerly represented Weyburn Special Care Home and the Saskatchewan Health Authority), Val Borgen, outgoing Chair Myron Fletcher representing the Rotary Club of Weyburn, June Fletcher, who formerly represented the Quota International Club of Weyburn, and bus driver Brice Chaffin. While the Weyburn Legion does not currently have a member on the Care-A-Van board, informally representing the Legion is Jean Nicholson, who is the book-keeper for the Society.
There is currently no representative for the Saskatchewan Health Authority, and the Care-A-Van Society is currently looking for other member organizations and members at large.
Myron Fletcher shared that the organization's finances are doing well, but they will soon need to come up with a plan to raise funds for a new bus. The current bus is still in working order, but they are planning ahead for when the time comes to replace it.
"It's better to start early than late," he said. "So we're looking at different funds from different areas and we're just working on that. We can't really pinpoint anything at the moment, but we have to start somewhere."
He noted that there is also a provincial grant that could fund part of it, which is arranged through the City of Weyburn.
"The City of Weyburn has been a great help to us. They are a member agency also with us, but to get things done and to work with, we license through them and everything, and they just they fall over backwards for us. So I appreciate that very much."
The organization is also currently looking for a part-time bus driver, in good health, with a clean driving abstract are able to produce a clean criminal record check from the Weyburn Police Service.
This is because Sandra Montgomery has retired after 30 years from the bus-driving job, which primarily entails driving school children to and from school.
"The bus is usually busy from 7:30 in the morning until 9:30 it runs steady taking kids to school, and then it does the same thing taking them home. The school boards hire us to do that for them, and that's a busy time," he shared. "They take up a big percentage of our calls during the fall, winter, and spring."
Anyone who would like to join the Weyburn Care-A-Van Society can contact them to get in on their monthly Zoom meetings, held on the second Tuesday of each month. Meetings usually take about 30 to 45 minutes, and their next one is on September 10th.