By Bonnie Huff

I have had the privilege to be a passenger On Pierce Transit shuttle service since 1997.  When the news came that the vote was lost by a mere 700 votes, I was devastated.  For myself and many others this is my only means of transportation.  I am 67 years old, a quadriplegic and can only transport by wheelchair.

When I first began to use the shuttle service, I went to church and to doctor’s appointments.   Because of this privilege, I was able to expand my horizons.  From 1998 through 2000, I used the shuttle service five days a week to attend Pierce College Puyallup and on the sixth day I went to church

I joined the Parkland/Spanaway Kiwanis Club and have been a member there for over 12 years.  In 2007, I took my Associates degree and began to go to school at Evergreen University in Tacoma for the next two years.  Because of shuttle, I was able to attend every day and earned my Bachelor of Arts degree.

At this time, I use a shuttle service to attend church every week and once a month go to my board meeting at church.  I attend my Kiwanis meeting every week and belong to the board which meets once a month.  It is also my transportation to all my doctor’s appointments, shopping and anywhere else I need to go. 

So you can see how important it is For Pierce Transit to maintain a shuttle service and keep it going.  I ride with other elder people and disabled people all the time.  Every one of us expresses gratitude for this service.  Without it, we would be put back many years and be considered homebound invalids.  Because of such services as the shuttle, the word invalid is practically out of our dictionary and definitely out of daily usage.

[Editor Note: Bonnie Huff is the newsletter editor for the Parkland-Spanaway Kiwanis, a service club that works on eliminating tetanus, finding cures for cancer, running youth programs in local schools and providing local scholarships. She is also a former reporter from the old Parkland Spanaway Post.]