Father’s House needs a bus for transportation of children to school

Dear friends,

Until recently most of the seventy-two children residing at Father’s House Center of Social Care for Children have attended a local school in Petrivske village. Unfortunately, the children were not treated well by the Administration or the other students, even though they behaved well and achieved good grades. As a result of their treatment at school the children’s desire and motivation to attend school has been adversely affected.

This past September we made a difficult decision to transfer all of our children to a different school. We believe this is in the best interest of the children. We have established a contact with a new school in a neighboring village, which is about eight miles away from the Center. The School’s Administration has agreed to accept the children, and allow them to attend on a full time basis.

The atmosphere in the new school is very positive, and our children are welcomed both by the Staff and the other students. Our children’s desire to study has increased substantially, and although it’s been a short time, their grades have begun to show signs of improvement. The Teachers are so impressed with their behavior and performance in school that they have even welcomed them to visit their homes and families.

The Center provides daily transportation for the thirty children to attend school. We have two vehicles that are used for transporting the children, a van that seats eighteen people and larger bus that can seat up to fifty people. The larger bus is not operational at the moment, and we are currently using the van to transport the children to and from school. You may imagine the conditions when so many children are cramped into such a small space. We are looking for support to repair the bus or acquire a new larger vehicle. The estimates to repair the bus are 4,000 US dollars and the costs to acquire a new one are substantially greater.

If you are willing to help us with a donation to either repair the current bus or to help buy a new one, we would greatly appreciate any contributions. Additionally, if you can think of others that would be willing to help please ask them on our behalf, or direct them to us with any questions. We greatly appreciate your thoughts and consideration.