The teams at Synergy Credit Union and the Lloydminster and District Co-op were more than happy to jump on board and support Border City Connects purchase a new 14-passenger van to help local and area residents get to medical appointments near and far. The non-profit also helps those with physical and developmental disabilities with rides to and from the grocery store, etc. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
Lloydminster just got a lot more accessible for those with special needs or mobility issues thanks to a successful charity hockey game and partnership between two local organizations.
Border City Connects (BCC) celebrated its partnership with Synergy Credit Union and the Lloydminster and District Co-op on Tuesday morning with the unveiling of its new paravan, bringing BCC’s fleet up to four vehicles.
The brand new van is equipped with a wheelchair lift and can seat 14 passengers plus one driver.
The van took a total of 18 hours to wrap and was done by Reid & Wright Advertising. Its theme is “Connecting Our Communities.”
“With this new addition of our Border City community wrapped bus, we’re going to be able to enhance our transportation, with greater accessibility to the full demographic of our community,” said Border City Connects executive director, Glenn Fagnan.
The new van was purchased with the $60K Border City Connects raised through last year’s Play It Forward charity hockey game, a grant from the Sask government, as well as a combined $55K from Synergy and the Co-op.
The van is decorated from top to bottom with black and white faces representing the diversity found in the Border City.
Kristine Knourek, the Co-op’s director of marketing and community relations, explained Lloyd residents may even be able to see their own faces within the design of the van.
“You may see yourself represented if you look closely enough,” she said.
“We engaged a striking black and white background, which is meant to showcase diversity.”
With the new van now on the road, Knourek would love to see it build an even stronger sense of community going forward.
“Our hope is, when you see this van shuttling down the street, picking up a child at a local school, or dropping seniors off at the Co-op to get their groceries, that you’ll feel the same sense of pride we do in being part of something bigger than ourselves,” she said.
Gord Thiel, branch manager at Synergy Credit Union, echoed Knourek by saying supporting a project like this fits in perfectly with the Synergy brand.
“At Synergy we like to support and make sure we’re contributing to the great work being done by organizations in the city that are helping out various groups and members of our community that are in need of assistance,” he said.
“We look for ways to support mobility-challenged individuals, seniors, students, and many other groups.”
For Fagnan, he knows the new van will have a huge impact on the community.
“We support numerous groups such as The Olive Tree, Residents in Recovery, The Thorpe Recovery Centre, as well as working with both school divisions and a number of other local organizations.
