A bus that once carried ASEB participants to and from ASEB’s day program has found a new life. Beginning in January, the bus—which ASEB donated to the Adalberto Guirola Children’s Home—will leave the streets of the East Bay and begin traveling the rugged roads of El Salvador, where it will play a key role in connecting orphaned children with disabilities to the services they need. Founded in 1906, the Adalberto Guirola Children’s Home has as history of providing shelter for children whose parents have been unable to care for them, who have been abandoned and neglected, or who have been orphaned. In 1986, the orphanage was struck by an earthquake and declared uninhabitable. The central government received aid to construct a new building and in 1992 the Congregation of the Sisters of Bethany took charge of the administration of the Hogar and the care of its children. In January 2012, the Hogar was dedicated to the care of children with special needs. Eighty children ranging in age from infancy to 18 now live at the Guirola Children’s Home. ASEB donated the full-size Ford bus that had once been a dependable member of its fleet of six vehicles. Nor-Cal Mobility owner Ken Karasinski, who is the uncle of two children adopted from the Guirola Children’s Home, gave the bus a complete tune-up and renovated its interior to include six wheelchair tie-down positions and two double-passenger flip-up seats. Nor-Cal Mobility installed a Braun commercial-grade wheelchair lift and made sure the bus was ready for rough terrain. Janice Walker of Project S.A.V.E. and Courtney Casey from The Arc of Butte County donated pediatric wheelchairs, a hospital bed, and other much-need supplies and equipment. The bus is now full of supplies, and—thanks to the generosity of so many—ready for its journey to El Salvador. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlN7qy8hMQk
Faithful ASEB Bus Continues its Journey by Heart
