Boyle Street warming bus receives $150,000 donation
'This is a vital service for Edmontonians, and I'm pleased to have the resources to be able to help out'
The Boyle Street winter warming bus will be on the road for at least another three years thanks to a $150,000 donation.
The money came from Bob Turner, a retired physician and former NDP MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud.
Turner said he was inspired to donate when he learned the bus, operating since 2006, ran out of funding in 2017.
"I joined in at that time with a small donation," he said. "I really think this is a vital service for Edmontonians, and I'm pleased to have the resources to be able to help out with this."
The money, which will be allotted over three years, represents one of the largest private donations made to Boyle Street Community Services, said executive director Julian Daly.
"Every year we have to go cap in hand to try and find funding for this," Daly said. "When it comes to September, October for the last five years, we've never been sure we have funding for this. It's really anxiety provoking."
The bus, which provides the homeless with a warm shelter, food, winter clothing and transportation to social services, costs about $200,000 annually to run.
Last winter, an average of 40 people visited the bus each day.
Daly said he's not sure why the bus hasn't received more money, and that Boyle Street is looking for long-term funding from the city and the province.
"Hopefully it wouldn't need to be permanent," Daly said. "The city is working harder and the province is working too, and agencies like us, [to transition] people who are rough sleeping into housing."
"I hope one day there will be no need for a bus like this, that there will be no people living rough in our city like this."