2 Salpointe students raise funds for bus passes for homeless
by Heidi Rowley on Nov. 28, 2008, under Local, Special
Salpointe Catholic High School senior David Charles gives bus passes to Efrain Montano at El Rio Community Health Center.
Patients at El Rio Community Health Center’s homeless services clinic tell the staff daily that they can’t get to appointments because of the cost of transportation.
Two students at Salpointe Catholic High School have raised $1,200 to buy 100 one-month bus passes, which are being given to homeless patients and others who most need them.
“Transportation is a big part of medical care,” said JaMaal Dees, who is the clinic’s referral clerk. “When they have the pass, they have some control in their life.”
Salpointe senior David Charles, 18, said he came up with the idea a few months ago, when he was spending a fortune to fill his own vehicle with gas. He looked into how much it would cost to get a bus pass and learned about Sun Tran’s economy pass. Sun Tran offers nonprofit organizations a reduced rate on the monthly bus passes.
Charles, his friend Natalee Dawson, 15, a sophomore at Salpointe, and their parents contacted several nonprofits in Tucson to figure out who might be interested in partnering with them.
El Rio has a “Give a Lift” program, which provides free bus passes to those in need. The program is funded by donations.
Charles and Dawson raised money by first sending e-mails and letters to potential donors and then following up with phone calls. All the money donated to the students has gone directly to the passes.
Cletis Beegle, 68, was at the clinic at 1101 E. Broadway Wednesday when the students visited. He said the clinic saved his life, as he had been living outdoors before learning he could get help. He was connected with La Frontera and is doing much better, he said.
Two new bus passes he was given Wednesday would help “a lot,” he said.
Efrain Montano said he had to get somebody to give him a ride Wednesday to his appointment at the clinic. Charles handed him two passes that will give him free rides on Sun Tran buses for the next two months.
“I didn’t have money to take the bus today, so this will help,” he said.
Charles said he will continue to solicit donations and has even set up an e-mail account to handle inquiries: givealift@gmail.com.
Donations can also be made through the El Rio Foundation by calling El Rio at 205-4947.
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El Rio Foundation
Sun Tran
