Each school day, a bus picks students up from the parking lot of St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Littleton and drives them 15 miles to their Denver school, Our Lady of Lourdes.
Until recently, the number of children that could ride the bus was limited by its capacity: 38. But now capacity has nearly doubled with the purchase of a larger bus, allowing more students to catch a ride from the southwest metro area to the Rosedale neighborhood.
“The new bus seats 71,” Principal Rosemary Anderson told the Denver Catholic Register. “Next year we hope to have it full!
“Our Lady of Lourdes is growing,” she added.
When Danny Kenny, a parishioner of St. Frances Cabrini, former bus driver for Littleton Public Schools and brand-new employee of the school, saw the need for a bigger bus, he started looking.
“It’s like the Lord sent it to me,” he said from the parking lot at Lourdes Nov. 20 as he waited for the children to get out of school. “I told my dad I was going to buy it and he said, ‘I’ve got some money,’ and I said, ‘Well, I’ll split it with you.’
“This was a steal,” he said of the $5,500 used vehicle.
Kenny has invested “a couple thousand” for repairs, and is now painting it in the school colors of green and gold.
“It’s really neat to see a Catholic school bus driving around,” Anderson said. “Danny is a rock star.”
Kenny is motivated by his love for Catholic schools.
“Catholic education is so important,” he said. “The best thing parents, and grandparents, can do is provide a Catholic education for their kids.”
