Nonprofit organization buys buses for district

WINTHROP, Mass. — Winthrop Public Schools recently received four school buses thanks to a donation from the Viking Pride Foundation, a nonprofit organization.

The Viking Pride Foundation has donated more than $500,000 to the school district since the town stopped funding athletics in 2004. Last year, the organization announced plans to spend $200,000 to buy the buses — two new and two used — so that the district could save additional funds, The Boston Globe reports.

“These buses have a shelf life of up to 12 years, and we wanted something that would continue to give back to the community after we were done making our donation,’’ Vin Crossman, chairman of Viking Pride, told the newspaper.

Officials from the organization and the town also told The Boston Globe that the buses will cut at least $40,000 from the district’s $110,000 transportation budget each year.

In addition to the daily routes and transporting teams to away games, the buses will be used for field trips and by the town’s Parks and Recreation Department for other student trips.