Generous Bus Driver Gives Kids Hats and Gloves to Keep Them Warm

It’s a known fact that teachers often go above and beyond for their students. But recently, one man reminded us about the important role other school staff members can play in students’ lives.

John Lunceford has been driving the Kennewick School District school bus in Kennewick, WA for two years now. Last Thursday, he noticed that one of the students boarding his bus was crying.

The temperature was freezing that day, and the boy was not dressed for the harsh weather. A post on the school district’s Facebook page describes that his hands and ears were red from exposure to the cold.

Lunceford immediately reached out to help him.

“I put my gloves on him and told him it’ll be OK,” Lunceford told the school in the now viral Facebook post.

But Lunceford felt he needed to do more to help the boy and others like him. After dropping off the kids at the school, he went to a dollar store and bought ten hats and pairs of gloves, which he then carried to the school.

Although Lunceford did not know the boy’s name, he was able to obtain it with help from the school’s administration. He found the boy in the library, and gave him gloves and a hat, to help shield him from the cold for the rest of the winter.

Lunceford then announced that he would take care of any child on his route who didn’t have protection from the cold.

“I’m a grandfather, you know,” he told the school for Facebook. “No one wants to see a kid suffer like that.”

With the onset of winter and the return of the infamous Polar Vortex this year, it is important everywhere for people, especially children, to cover up. The school district’s post also reminds people that their staff is always willing to help children and families who need assistance to fight the cold.

It sounds like the kids in Kennewick are in good hands.