In just three days, Rotarians from Grande Prairie will embark on their 15th annual Highway to Mexico trip, with 10 vehicles in tow. This year they’re bringing three fire trucks, four ambulances, two school buses and a HandiBus to Mazatlan to be donated to surrounding communities. Project lead Felix Seiler explains it all started with the need for wheelchairs.
“They had no way of bringing them down, so they put all the wheelchairs into a school bus and drove it down to Mazatlan; that’s how it started out. Over the years now we’re over 90 vehicles that we’ve brought down there and we work very closely with three or four Rotary clubs.”
This year’s fleet comes from the City and County of Grande Prairie and the MD of Greenview, along with auctions and private sales and two others from Edson. Seiler says there’s still such a great need that there’s a waiting list.
“The biggest thing is that they have to prove that they can actually maintain these vehicles and keep them on the road. When you go down through Mexico, you go through Mazatlan and the surrounding and you will see a lot of vehicles with Grande Prairie on the side. They do a lot of good every day.”
Seiler notes that all four Grande Prairie Rotary clubs pool together to sponsor vehicles. The group will leave early Friday morning with eight vehicles and will pick the other two from Edson in Edmonton.