For the past 20 years, Student Transportation of America employees in Santa Maria, Calif., have been taking a company school bus and remaking it into a holiday float for the annual Christmas Parade of Lights.

For this year's parade, which was held Dec. 4, the staff added two of every animal to turn the bus into its rendition of Noah's Ark.

“We are invested in the community,” says Paula Sauvadon, vice president of operations for STA. “Events like this are important to our staff because we have been servicing the area for so long. It is our way of giving back to a great community and a great partner."

STA has contracted with the Santa Maria-Bonita School District since 1987 and has volunteered its time and a school bus to the Santa Maria Christmas Parade of Lights since 1988. The STA staff also donates time to a number of volunteer programs in the Santa Maria area throughout the year, including an annual holiday toy drive, a food drive, and a “Stuff the Bus” school supplies drive.

The 2011 Parade of Lights is scheduled for Dec. 3.