AATA donates bus to Ann Arbor Community Center

At an open house held by the community center on December 6, the announcement was made by AATA Interim Executive Director Dawn Gabay, and AATA Board Members Ted Annis and Paul Ajegba.

Ann Arbor Community Center Director Rev. Yolanda Whiten, who was instrumental in working out the arrangement with AATA to acquire the bus, described the donated bus as “an amazing gift that will help us immensely in doing the work we do. By having a bus of our own, we will be better able to serve our community.”

She indicated that the bus will be used to drive children to the center’s youth summer day camp in Clear Lake and for the center’s activities for seniors. Whiten also hopes to use the bus for delivering food to those who are not able to get to the center.

The center chose to have AATA paint the bus a purple color and add the slogan “Moving forward, changing lives since 1923”. The center was established in 1923 as the Dunbar Center and has been housed in four community locations, moving to its North Main Street address in the late 1950s and being renamed in 1959, Whiten said.

The director said that the center will no longer be dependent on others to provide loaner buses. In fact, she hopes to find a way to make the bus available to other non-profits saying, “The bus now belongs to the community center and the community center belongs to everyone.”

Whiten praised AATA as a real partner in the community, citing this donation and AATA’s efforts to improve the environment as examples, saying, “I see AATA in many places. They don’t just drive people places; they serve the community.”

According to AATA Board Chair David Nacht, the bus had reached the end of its useful life under Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) regulations, but is still usable.

“AATA is a partner in the community and we value the role of non-profits, especially those that work with the more needy members of our community,” Nacht said. “We’re happy to donate this used bus to the Ann Arbor Community Center and we wish them well with it.”

Nacht added that the AATA Board of Directors decided to donate the bus, which is valued at $4,800, rather than put it up for auction.

The community center plans to use the bus to transport youth during its summer camp program.

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