Bus Repairs Due to Vandalism

Glengarry Child Care Society has been providing exceptionally high-quality care to children and families for more than 50 years in our licensed Child Care, Out of School Care, and Family Day Home programs. Our dedicated Early Childhood Educators are committed to providing children with a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment where they can play, explore, experiment and take risks. Family support is a high priority; we recognize parents as their child's primary caregiver, and that parenting is the most challenging job they will ever have but the most rewarding.

We transport school-aged children to and from school daily. Due to the demand for school aged care, in June 2022, we traded off our 15-passenger van and purchased a 22-passenger bus. On the morning of September 21, 2022, the cataylic converter was stolen from the bus, rendering it in-operable and leaving us without a way to transport the 22 children that ride the bus daily.

We scrambled and were able to rent a 15-passenger van that put us back on the roads. The cost for the rental was 1400.00 per WEEK. Insurance coverage on a bus does not cover rental charges so we were covering the full price of the rental. Our insurance policy does cover the theft of the catalytic converter, however, our deductible is just over 6,000.00 and the repair cost is just under 6100.00. There was no point in filing a claim; again we are stuck with a repair bill of 6100.00. Through a connection of one of our amazing parents, we were able to switch rental companies and now have a 15-passenger van at a cost of 2600.00 per MONTH. That's saving us about half of the first rental.

Here's where the trouble starts. Theft of converters is high in all vehicles, so finding a replacement is extremely difficult. Our bus has been sitting at Denny Andrews Ford since the theft on September 21st. There are no converters available and the availability date is unknown, it could be weeks, it could be months before we get the bus back.

Including the pending repair bill, we are sitting at a total cost of over 12,000.00, and it will continue to increase until the converter becomes available for repair. Increasing at a rate of 2600.00 per month. My prediction is that we will hit the 20,000.00 mark before this is over.

Things are going well for Glengarry, enrollment is full in all programs and we were on the way to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation is hitting us hard and will quickly put us many steps back in our financial recovery. We are looking for any level of support, every dollar makes a difference.

Please consider donating to help lessen the effect of this situation. Thank you.

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