Paola Senior Center donates large van to homeless shelter

By: Erin Wisdom, ewisdom@miconews.com

Last week, Jay Preston, director of My Father's House Community Services, hired a driver to transport residents of the homeless shelter to and from appointments and events. Little did he know that, just days later, he'd have a van to go with that driver.

The 1995 Ford Econoline was a gift from the Paola Senior Center, which offered the vehicle to Preston on Thursday and handed it over — key, title and all — on Friday morning. Glenna Burton, center director, said the center could have sold the nine-passenger van for $3,500 to $5,500 but knew that My Father's House had a transportation need.

“We thought you needed it worse than we needed any money we could have gotten out of it,” Herb Fickel, chairman of the Senior Center board, told Preston when he and Burton presented the van to him.

Prior to receiving this gift, Preston had planned for the driver he'd hired to make use of a mini-van that My Father's House owns or of a smaller vehicle, as the mini-van often requires maintenance. Having the new van ensures that the driver will be able to transport larger groups, allowing Preston and others to see to their own duties rather than taking time away from them to act as drivers.

The Senior Center now has a 2007 Ford Econoline — complete with a wheelchair lift — for its own use. Although the van it donated to My Father's House is an older model with a few more miles, Preston is very thankful to have it.

“It's a tremendous gift,” he said. “It really is.”