Students Not Served Breakfast After Weather Delay, So Bus Driver Buys Entire Bus Food
Bus drivers have the important job of carrying precious cargo to and from their classes. And for Wayne Price, it is more than just a job.
Price never thought he would be a bus driver in Montevallo, Alabama, but it soon became a natural fit, according to WCVI.
Price, who worked full time in ministry was convinced by a principal friend that being a bus driver would be the ideal job for him.
Price liked the idea, as he would be able to continue working with young people.
“I was just amazed at how quick I fell in love with the kids,” Price told WCIV. “I work with teenagers and college-aged students for most of time dealing with youth ministry, but God developed a love in me for all the ages.”
Price loves what he does – driving elementary, middle and high school students to school each day – and makes the most of the short time he spends with these kids.
“You do not have long to talk to them on the bus, but you have a lot of time to influence them,” Price told WCIV.
“It is amazing what a kind word, just a smile can do. You get to set the example when they have struggles and frustrations of responding differently than what the world tends to train people to respond.”
On Tuesday morning, Price got some disparaging news about his route. The Shelby County Schools were delayed two hours due to the road and weather conditions that had developed.
While most people would relish in the opportunity to sleep in a few more hours, Price had other things on his mind.
With the two-hour delay in the works, he realized that the kids enrolled at Montevallo Elementary were going to miss out on school breakfast that day.
As Price stopped to get himself some breakfast, a light bulb went off in his head, and he quickly bought 50 breakfast sandwiches to feed the kids on their way to school that day.
“One of the kids said, ‘oh, Mr. Price, you must be rich,’” Price told WCIV. “I am not rich. I am in full-time ministry. I am not rich, but you sit there and think about it, you take your family out to dinner, and you can drop $50 going out to dinner, and it was nothing more than taking my family out to dinner.
“When it came down to the financial side, it was just second nature. I really did not think about it. I thought, hey this would be neat. I bet they will like this,” he added.
“I was just so surprised that he did that,” Montevallo Elementary 5th grader Elizabeth Lopez told WCIV. “I did not think he was going to do it. I am really thankful for having him as a bus driver, and he feels like a dad to me.”
“Montevallo is a very special place, and anytime there is a need, so many people step in and help above and beyond what they have to do, and Mr. Price is just an example and a testament to this community and the schools in Montevallo,” Principal Dr. Allison Campbell said.
“I truly believe that I love them, and I know love because Christ loved me,” Price told WCVI.
“We get caught up in materialistic things, even buying biscuits to a certain element is a little materialistic, but Christmas is giving. Christmas is showing love. Christmas is esteem in others greater than yourself, but Christmas is the purpose that God sent his son.
“My love for my kids is purely a reflection of the love that originated in God and Christ,” he said.
With breakfast sandwiches in tow, he only wanted one thing back from the students. He asked them all to keep the bus clean, which meant no wrappers on the floor — and without hesitation, the kids agreed to the simple request.
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