Thanks to the enormous generosity of the leaders and members of Dalraida Church of Christ, Faulkner University now has a 33-passenger bus for its athletic and missional needs.
During the 2023 Giving Tuesday campaign, one of the needs Faulkner advertised was a passenger bus to transport athletes to and from their away games. Prior to the donation, the university chartered a commercial bus for those games. Now, Faulkner students have a means of transportation to call their own.
Elders of Dalraida Church of Christ said the gift became available thanks to God’s perfect timing.
“The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Just as we were considering relinquishing one of our buses to make room for another project, we heard of Faulkner’s need,” said Dalraida Church of Christ elder Dean Sanders, who is over transportation at the church. “We feel really good about what’s going on at Faulkner right now and we just wanted to help in any way we could. Giving the university our bus was the perfect way to build upon our relationship with the school.”
Church representatives presented the 2012 Ford bus to Faulkner leadership in an official “key-ceremony,” on January 17, 2024. With only 28,000 miles, the bus is in pristine condition both inside and out and is ready to acquire a custom wrap in Faulkner colors and the university’s official logo.
The donation was a “win-win” situation explained, Faulkner kinesiology professor Steve Phillips who is also an elder of Dalraida Church of Christ. He helped facilitate the donation.
“We were discussing ways to make some more storage space available for an urgent situation at the church and it was suggested using our bus barn, where we house our three buses,” Phillips explained. “We considered moving one outside but had some concerns of the buses’ security. It was then suggested that knowing Faulkner needed a bus, that maybe we should consider giving it to Faulkner as we already had adequate transportation for our needs. It was a win-win situation in that we now have added storage space and Faulkner has a bus that can be used for years to come to meet many needs.”
The Dalraida Church is home to many Faulkner students, employees, alumni and supporters of the school and the donation was a way for the church to show their appreciation for Faulkner University.
The new bus will not only be a way to increase Faulkner University’s visibility to the public while teams travel for athletic events, it will also be used to transport students to and from local area service projects and state-wide preaching and mission events.
Before the ceremony concluded, leadership from Dalraida Church of Christ and Faulkner University circled around, held hands and prayed over the future uses of the bus and its safety while traveling.
If you or your church are interested in supporting Faulkner University, visit FaulknerHeritage.org or visit our giving page at https://give.faulkner.edu. Also, please consider giving toward our Zorn Scholars Matching Gift Challenge to support our Bible majors. Giving is easy. You can mail your checks made payable to Faulkner University or visit the giving link above.