CHANDLER, Ariz. — A local nonprofit after-school program is using a large financial gift it just received from the community to solve a part of the school bus driver shortage problem in the Valley.
The Boys and Girls Club of the Valley Chandler Compadres location has a lot of fun and educational activities for kids after school. But until a few days ago, dozens of Chandler kids couldn’t get to the club because of a lack of school bus drivers.
The Boys and Girls Club is using a large financial gift from the Chandler Compadres, a charitable organization focusing on Valley youth, as a bus driver shortage solution.
The club's Cassidy Campana said a charter bus is now driving kids from six Chandler public schools to the Boys and Girls Club. A $1 million donation from the Chandler Compadres is being used to pay for that transportation. It's also the largest gift in the organization's 40-year history.
Using private transportation is new, Campana said. She added that it is the best option to cover a three-mile gap many kids faced as a barrier when getting from school to after-hours care at the club. It has been a game changer for families.
“This is the first that I’m aware of where we’re using private transportation to bring kids to us," Campana said. "It’s really a unique solution to this. For the Boys and Girls Club to make that investment and bring kids into the club at no charge to the families, it's really a unique solution to this." Campana added, "We’re honored that the Chandler Compadres saw the need and would make that investment.”
Fourth-grader, Isaac Montalbo and his friends at the Boys and Girls Club, got to check out the newest way to get around.
“It’s cool, it’s like a party bus,” Montalbo said.
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Matt Asklind, the Chandler Compadres incoming vice president, said the size of their gift was a record breaker for the organization.
“It was the first time we had an opportunity to write a seven figure check,” Asklind said.
Campana said the gift made for an innovative solution to a big problem they were facing.
“There’s a lack of drivers who can drive those buses, those commercial drivers," she said. "So many schools are not able to transport kids to the Boys and Girls Clubs after school. And so many parents, thousands of parents, rely on after school care for their kids so they can continue to work.”
Campana said six Chandler Public Schools that couldn’t get kids to the club before this private transportation investment, now have wheels on the ground. She said there’s a staff member on every bus and all of the drivers are thoroughly background checked.
They’ve also seen more parents signing up their kids for after school care, now that the bus is available. Almost all of the newly opened spots have been filled in just one week in Chandler, Campana said. It's been so successful, she said they're expanding the program to the Roosevelt School District and the Boys and Girls Club nearby in Phoenix.
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