Transport giant ComfortDelGro Corp yesterday made a donation amounting to $150,000 to three voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs): Blossom Seeds, Dorcas Home Care Service and Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society.

The donation, to mark ComfortDelGro's 15th anniversary, was in the form of a refurbished nine-seater bus, and free trips for both seniors and their medical escorts.

A Toyota HiAce bus has been refurbished and retrofitted with a fully automatic hydraulic lifter, foldable bench seats for up to eight passengers as well as a wheelchair-locking device. It will be used by Blossom Seeds seniors for daily trips to clinics and hospitals.

In addition, ComfortDelGro's MediTrip Fund has been set up with $100,000 worth of "medi trips" for a year. ComfortDelGro MaxiCabs will provide these trips between 10am and 4pm from Mondays to Fridays to Dorcas Home Care Service and Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society.

About 20 drivers have been trained to provide these trips. The fare of $55 per medi trip will be fully subsidised by ComfortDelGro through the fund.

VWOsor medical escorts may book multiple trips for their seniors at least six hours in advance using ComfortDelGro's specially developed MediTrip app.

ComfortDelGro chief executive Yang Ban Seng said: "There is a growing demand for medical escort transport service, and we have been working closely with the Agency for Integrated Care for many years to meet this need."

Ms Ong Siew Chin, chief executive of Blossom Seeds, said: "The bus will help us to serve more elderly who require medical escorts. As the elderly cope with health challenges, every effort to make them less uncomfortable is helpful."

Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society chairman Lee Kim Siang said the initiative will help those who cannot afford the service.

Christopher Tan