Beyond the Bus

In this time of uncertainty, it's more important than ever to show kindness to those around us. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are so many opportunities to show appreciation to others, even if we're bound to the confines of our own homes.

Here are some fun ways to keep yourself busy while giving back to the community.

1. Make handmade masks

Are you crafty or know how to sew? The City of Lansing has opened up donation sites where people are able to drop off handmade masks. Click here to learn more.

To learn how to make your own masks, click here.

2. Support local artists

Local artists are joining the movement to help make at-home quarantine a little more bearable. One artist released free Lansing-themed coloring pages you can print and colored, with new pages released daily! Once you’ve colored these pages in, be sure to share them with #coloryourlansing.

Check out all of her coloring pages here.

3. Thank people on the front line

Make cards to deliver to cashiers on your trip to the grocery store, or post a shout out to bus drivers and health care workers online. Do you have a neighbor working in one of these essential industries? Drop off goodies, letters or cheer them on to let them know you appreciate their work. 

4. Send letters to local nursing homes

People across the world are writing letters and creating drawings to send to people in assisted living and nursing homes. This is a scary time for many of them, and a letter of love or appreciation can mean so much. 

5. Shop local

Support your local businesses by ordering takeout, purchasing gift cards or leaving them positive reviews online! Places like Cravings Gourmet Popcorn, Blue Owl Coffe, and AnQi Sushi are still open for deliveries and/or curbside pickup. Other businesses like Nuthouse Sports Grill are taking a temporary hiatus, while offering gift cards in the meantime.

Lansing Brewing Company has even been hosting cocktail classes and deals on their social media! Check them out here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has required us to make sweeping changes to our daily lives. Toilet paper is the hottest item on the market. Social distancing is the norm.

For the health and safety of our employees, riders and the general public, CATA even temporarily suspended its fixed-route services. We’re now offering free curb-to-curb rides for critically essential work or medical trips.

Other public services are adapting as well, such as Capital Area District Libraries.

Since CADL is closed through April 13, we're counting down three ways you can still connect with their services.

1. Tune in to a storytime show.

CADLtales is a kid-friendly educational series with stories, songs and learning activities. Shows are filmed at the downtown Lansing branch, so while you may not be able to visit the  branch in person, you can play these storytime shows whenever you’d like.

You can find a full playlist of episodes on CADL’s YouTube channel. Click here to learn more.

2. Go digital with download and streaming services.

Library cardholders can download or stream books, music, movies and more. No need for a Netflix subscription here. A bonus of going digital? You don’t have to go to the library to return borrowed items, so there are no overdue fees.

Explore CADL’s impressive digital library here. It even includes comic books!

3. Create your own historical adventure.

Explore our community’s history through thousands of images and documents with Local History Online. Conduct your own research, go on a virtual historical scavenger hunt or flip through photos that pre-date social media. No library card required.

Click here to start exploring.

Want another look at Stevie Wonder's time in Lansing? Check out this video testimonial from Below the Stacks.

Margaret Stephens loves being the customer experience manager at CATA.

“I make sure our customer service representatives treat all CATA customers with respect and provide an excellent experience for them,” she said. “We want to treat each customer with dignity and get them where they need to go. It’s corny, but I’m one of those people who really loves my job.”

It’s not corny at all, especially considering the unusual path that brought Margaret to CATA.

Margaret grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and, due to a family situation, was homeless for the last half of her senior year in high school.

“If there was one thing I’d do differently it would be to go to college right out of high school, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around where I was going to sleep the next day, let alone go to college.”

The mother of a childhood friend let Margaret move in, with the understanding that she’d move out upon graduation.

“I took the city bus to my high school graduation, walked across the stage, got my diploma and took the bus back to their home,” she said. “I knew I needed to find a new place to stay, and I needed to get a job.”

Donna, another close family friend, took her in. Donna’s husband, Junior, owned an electrical contracting company – the first black-owned business of its kind in Ohio.

“Junior gave me my first job,” she said. “He paid me $200 a week, and he made me learn everything there was to learn about doing business. Payroll, reading blueprints, being on time to work.

“In a way, that was my college. There was so much he taught me in the two years I worked there that I knew for the rest of my life I was going to be OK.”

Margaret moved to Michigan, taking a job with Michigan Bell. Through the company’s tuition-reimbursement program, she went to the Detroit College of Business, then Washtenaw Community College, and ultimately earned her bachelor’s in business administration from Eastern Michigan University.

“In those college classes, they covered so much of what Junior prepared me for,” Margaret said. “All those classes made sense – even English, because Junior made sure everything that left his office was professional and grammatically correct.”

When she turned 50, Margaret told her family and friends that she wanted to work with the public. “Without community outreach organizations throughout my life, I wouldn’t be where I am now,” she said.

Serendipitously, a recruiter contacted her about a customer experience job with CATA.

“Right away I said, ‘Yes, set me up for an interview,’” she said.Today, Margaret is stationed in the CATA Transportation Center, helping people get where they need to go. Junior has since passed away, but their families have remained good friends through the years.

“I didn’t realize it until recently the impact he had on my life,” Margaret said.

She said she enjoys working with younger people who are starting out on their own life journey at CATA.

“I want to be able to influence them the way Junior influenced me.”