What is the Angel Bus?

The Angel Bus is a wheelchair accessible van that provides transportation free of charge to Residents of Manitoulin Lodge and adult citizens of western Manitoulin with mobility issues.

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How to use the Angel Bus:

If you cannot safely get into a car or truck and you live west of an imaginary line through Providence Bay, Mindemoya, M'Chigeeng and Kagawong, please call our Dispatcher, Shirley, at 705-282-7732. Shirley will take down the particulars of your trip and try to coordinate Angel Bus and Driver availability with your appointment time. You must arrange to have an able-bodied escort accompany the person in need of accessible transportation. Our Drivers do not lift passengers and while driving they are unable to offer assistance to passengers. Our Drivers are trained to safely load, secure, and unload passengers.  Currently we have 14 volunteer Drivers and are always looking for more. Please contact Sandy Cook (see Contact page) if you would like to join our caring crew of angels.

Keeping the Angel Bus rollin’ . . .

Since its inception, the Angel Bus initiative has been embraced by the community as a viable, needed and valued service. Local businesses, service clubs, municipalities, churches and individual citizens have generously sustained its operation with donations. During the summer of 2024, the quilt raffle of Pat Best’s “Fancy Flowers” was a very successful fundraiser, with $4,895 in ticket sales. The Angel Bus is totally dependent on donations and all the work, whether it be serving on the Committee, organizing events, dispatching or driving the Angel Bus, is done by volunteers. All monies raised go toward the ongoing maintenance and operation of the Angel Bus. Donations of $1,000 or more are acknowledged with signage on the sides of the Angel Bus for the year of the donation. The Angel Bus averages over 110 outings per year, including medical runs, family events and fun/social outings such as Providence Bay Fair, picnics, and fall colour or Christmas light tours. In 2024, our expenses totaled $17,011.39, due in large part to insurance ($9,542.20) and fuel ($4,678.29). Early in 2023, we were able to replace our 2008 vehicle with a 2022 Ford Transit, capable of transporting 6 passengers, two of which can be wheelchairs. The new Angel Bus uses 50% less fuel than the old, 2008 one:) If you would like to donate to the Angel Bus, please go to our Donation page.

“Fancy Flowers”

Quilt Raffle 2024

Quilt raffle ticket sales at summer markets total $4895.

The Angel Bus needed a lift… and the community picked us up!

After years of savings, the Angel Bus Committee was on track for the purchase of a replacement used vehicle in 2024, but mounting mechanical and structural issues with the 2008 model made replacement in 2023 necessary.

The new Angel Bus was bought in February 2023, thanks to a very successful crowdsourcing campaign that raised the final $30,000 needed….actually, over $34,000 in just under 5 days, at the end of January ‘23! Combined with extremely generous donations of $15,000 each from Manitoulin Transport and the Douglas A. Smith Family Foundation, plus the $80,000 saved from Angel Bus donations over the previous six years, we were able to purchase a 2022 Ford Transit 350 extended Demo Cargo Van, accessibly modified with a side wheelchair lift, 5 moveable seats and up to 2 wheelchairs, to make a 6-passenger van. Our Drivers have been trained on it and by all accounts, it’s a wonderful replacement! Passenger views and comfort are very much improved!

Thanks to all the Angels who made this possible!

In the News

Manitoulin Expositor, May 17, 2023 “Newly purchased bus unveiled”

Sandy Cook, Chair of the Angel Bus Committee, thanking Doug Smith, founder of Manitoulin Transport, for helpling make the new Angel Bus a reality on Manitoulin.

Quilt Raffle Draw

October 12, 2023 Split Rail Brewing Co.’s Oktoberfest

Stan Zieleniewski reads name of winning ticket drawn by Andrea Smith (co-owner) with Shirley De Roche (assistant general manager) holding the draw barrel.