Tri-City businesses are funding a plan to bus homeless people to temporary shelters this winter for a meal and good night's sleep.
This week, Coquitlam Coun. Brent Asmundson singled out the companies that had stepped forward over the past three weeks to donate a total of $22,800 to bus people to a monthly rotation of churches.
Asmundson, a bus driver, said TransLink and his employer, Coast Mountain Bus Co., also contributed an out-of-service community shuttle to the Hope for Freedom Society, which is overseeing the cold/wet weather mat program that started last week at Coquitlam's Cavalry Baptist Church.
At Monday's city council meeting, Asmundson listed the companies that ponied up the busing bucks, including: Infiniti Benchmark: $10,000; Polygon: $5,000; Wesbild: $2,500; Team Leo Bruneau: $2,000; Beedie: $1,500; Epix Developments and Brad Marko Consulting, $800; and Mosaic: $500. As well, Asmundson said there was an anonymous contribution of $500.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart congratulated Asmundson for "taking matters into his own hands" and contacting the businesses to raise the money.
And many people in the audience, who had gathered for city council's decision to allow the Eagle Ridge Bible Fellowship to be part of the church mat program, cheered when Asmundson gave his news.
An emotional Asmundson told The Tri-City News after the council meeting, "We were told outright if we don't have the transportation for the cold/wet weather mat program, it isn't going to work. This is very near and dear to my heart and I felt that I had to do something."
