Generosity Makes and Impact - Our 15 Passenger Van
Our new (to us!) 15 Passenger Van
Thank you!
Around 200 community members joined us for our annual Homecoming day, which featured the Wanakee Wilderness 5K, Chicken BBQ, a special dedication service, fellowship, games, and much more. Homecoming guests were also invited to learn a bit more about recent upgrades made possible through the generosity of our community. We wrote about the new Rec Hall roof in a previous post; now we wanted to say a bit more about two other big projects from 2019, starting with our new 15 passenger Chevy 3500 van.
From 2006 to 2016, Wanakee owned an 18-passenger bus. Though reliable and spacious, because of its size, the bus required a Commercial Driver’s License, which was impractical for seasonal staff to earn. We were able to use the bus for a decade thanks to a wide network of volunteer drivers, but the scheduling complexity was an increasing challenge.
The van was dropped off at our April Campfire Connection
In 2017/2018, Wanakee used a 10-passenger van donated by our friends at Chadwick and Trefethen, as well as a 12-passenger van on loan from our partners at Moultonboro United Methodist Church. A 15-passenger is the ideal size because it can transport a whole site of campers and staff (without requiring a CDL), so we were in the market.
Tracy Claus found the van at an auction in Southern NH and secured it for a bargain price considering it had less than 20,000 miles on it. After some updates to preserve the vehicle (a fresh coat of paint, principally) and improvements in safety and usability (back-up camera, wide angle mirrors, bluetooth, a trailer hitch), as well as some age-related maintenance provided by Cantin Chevrolet, this vehicle is ready to last us another decade or more.
The van purchase and upgrades cost roughly $11,000, and was sponsored by Tracy Claus, matching donors who contributed to NH Gives, Cantin Chevrolet, Tom Maciejewski, Jeff Scadova, Swanson Buick GMC, and David Taylor.
Thank you to Tracy, to everyone who contributed to NH Gives, to those who assisted in the purchase and upgrades, including Cantin Chevrolet. This is a major upgrade to our fleet! Sadly, the 10-passenger given by Chadwick and Trefethen in 2016 had to be taken out of service earlier this summer, so our new van arrived just in time to support 2019’s trip and travel programming. We are so excited to provide quality, safe programming through this new vehicle for years to come.