Page 43 - Nov Proof

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Buster the Bus
By Julie Matuszewski; photos courtesy of Jessica Petau
By Carin R. Kirkegaard with information from ColoradoGives
Kids for ColoradoGives, a family-friendly online giving program that falls under the Community First Foundation umbrella is now in its fifth year. The organization offers opportunities for kids along with their families to become the next generation of givers through teaching philanthropy and helping the more than 3,000 Colorado nonprofit organizations affiliated with the program.
This kid-inspired program begins with a Giving Activity Kit that kids and their parents can access online in the comfort of their own home. There are five downloadable activities like “Kindness Bingo” that help a child describe their own experience with acts of kindness or “Words to Give By.” This helps them learn words to use when talking about helping others. Phrases like “Save. Spend. Give” help teach kids the abstract concept of the importance of money and how to turn it into something they can see and understand. Each activity has an online quiz to determine what kind of giver a child, thus helping participants discover and support which causes they care about.
Once a cause is chosen, kids can make donations using a virtual Giving eCard. The tax deductible charitable contribution is purchased by an adult. Any amount can be loaded
onto the card, and since it can be emailed or printed and hand delivered, it makes for great birthday and holiday gifts that the recipient can then pay forward to a cause that touches his/ her heart.
Colorado Gives Day is Tuesday, December 7 and features a $1 Million+ Incentive Fund. Every nonprofit receiving a donation on Colorado Gives Day receives a portion of the fund, increasing impact and the value of every dollar donated. Colorado Gives Day has grown to be Colorado’s largest one-day online giving event, raising more than $307 million since it began in 2010.
To learn more about the Kids for ColoradoGives, visit https://www.coloradogives.org/kidsfor.
Buster delivers safety message ‘seat to seat and back to back’ to kindergarten student Preston Williams.
Buster the Bus traveled his way to the preschool and kindergarten students at Timber Trail Elementary. This in-school field trip, hosted by Douglas County School District (DCSD)Transportation Department, delivered students bus safety information in a fun and interactive way.
Riding the bus to school, while a big independence piece for many kindergarteners, it can also be intimidating to board the bus, leaving mom and dad behind. The DCSD Buster the Bus program utilizes a robotic “Buster Bus” to help with the transition.
During the program the kids interacted with Buster finding him both funny and cute. Additionally, Buster was able to enforce important bus rules like waiting five steps away from the bus as well as never stepping behind the bus.
According to the DCSD Transportation Department, schools that have exposed their students to the bus safety program, have
the safest, most courteous and best-behaved riders.
The program has been an extremely popular and effective tool for the safe transportation of DCSD students. It offers age-appropriate interactive programing from kindergarten through sixth grade, as well as a bus safety demonstration and evacuation practice.
Robotic Buster the Bus interacts with students by spinning, popping wheelies and dancing with the kids.
November 2021