OLDS — The town and a local emergency services company have each donated a vehicle to Mexico.
The two vehicles are a town handicapped bus and 1996 ambulance, owned by Guardian Emergency Inc.
During the weekend of May 23, they were driven down to Lethbridge.
The plan is for them to then be driven down to Mexico in late October, along with about three other vehicles donated from across southern Alberta.
It’s all part of Los Amigos, a partnership between Rotary clubs in southern/central Alberta and Mexico.
That program is led by the Sunrise Rotary Club of Lethbridge.
Via the program, surplus vehicles such as ambulances, fire trucks, school buses, buses and vans are donated to communities in Mexico where they are much needed and are put into service for many more years.
The vehicles are checked out to make sure they’re mechanically sound.
Decals stating they’re part of the Los Amigos project and donated from Canada are placed on them.
The vehicles are driven down to Mazatlan, Mexico, then dispersed from there to where they’re needed.
Rotary clubs in those communities have to apply to obtain the vehicles, detailing how they’ll pay for them and look after them.
Jim Crawford, of the Rotary Club of Olds, says this is the 10th anniversary of Los Amigos.
The Rotary Club of Olds has been participating in Los Amigos for several years and Crawford has driven vehicles down there for a couple of years as part of that program.
Crawford and his wife Debby, along with fellow club member Barb McIvor, hope to go again.
Last year, a fire truck from Olds was driven down as part of the program.
There’s lots of talk that there could be a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall. If that happens, COVID-19 restrictions – including travel – could be reimposed.
Crawford was asked if there’s a back-up plan for the vehicles if that second wave does indeed occur.
He said there’s lots of storage space for the vehicles in Lethbridge.
In a statement, Guardian Emergency Inc. owners Cor de Jong and Debbie Bennett said they were pleased to be able to donate the ambulance.
“Being a part of such an organization that helps many communities is an honour,” they wrote.
Bennett and de Jong are hoping to go down to Mazatlan for the hand-off of the ambulance.
“It will be an honour to meet the groups and know our ambulance is doing good work in the area,” they wrote.
Bennett and de Jong are getting out of the emergency services business, so they saw this as a great opportunity to put the ambulance to good use, because no one who was approached seemed to want to buy it.
There’s lots of drug and gang-related violence in Mexico but Crawford said he’s not concerned for his safety, should he get the green light to make the trip.
“I don’t worry about travelling through Mexico at all,” he said.
“We’re on a main road; we’re on a toll highway the whole way. There’s lots of police – the real police. There’s no problem.
“You’re driving down the road, they’re honking, they’re waving at you, they’re clapping, they’re giving you the thumbs-up.
“They know that it’s a thing that they (need).”
Crawford said in Mexico service vehicles – including ambulances – are in short supply.
“There, basically if you’re under 100,000 people, you don’t have an ambulance service anywhere around your city,” he said.
“We’re not spoiled, we’re just very fortunate to have the service we have.
“They don’t have it. There’s no federal funding for these kind of things.”
