Bondurant students get a special ride to school
Bondurant, September 19, 2016 --
It can be hard to find a ride to school.
But on Thursday, Riley Hamilton, 11, and Reese Hamilton, 7, and their friends had no problem.
The Bondurant Fire Department gave them a lift.
During its annual barbecue the fire department raffled off an opportunity for two kids and a few friends to catch a ride on a fire truck. Riley and Reese’s grandparents won the raffle and gave the prize to the two girls.
“For us it is kind of a way to keep kids thinking about fire safety, all of those kids enjoy when firetrucks go by and firetrucks in general so we want to have kids enjoy it instead of experiencing it on a bad day,” said Fire Chief Aaron Kreuder.
The kids were excited about their ride leading up to the morning.
“They were able to go to the fire station and pick the one they wanted,” said Brad Hamilton, their father. “It was a neat little experience for them to ride in one, not everybody gets to ride in one but they get to climb them from time to time but they got first-hand knowledge of what it is like.”
While the truck they wanted was not usable the morning of the ride, their second choice was.
The girls were able to bring friends on the ride and their uncle Bobby, who is a 25-year firefighter with the Des Moines Fire Department, joined them on the ride.
“It was awesome and it was fun with Uncle Bobby because usually, we don’t get to see him a lot,” Riley said. “It was a great experience because I have been in one but I have never been in one as it was moving.”
Kreuder drove the group to school, where students could see the firetruck drop them off.
“We have great support from people in Bondurant in general and they really support us well, if we can get the trucks out and the kids in them just to remind them we are there for them,” Kreuder said.
The department plans to continue the ride to school next year.
“It’s one of those special experiences that they get to have with their uncle and something they can always remember,” Hamilton said. “Just to see the joy on their faces and the excitement about being on the truck and spending time with her uncle it means the world to me and my wife and our family in general.”