Blue Bird is helping students at a vocational education center to attend this year’s Special Olympics.
Recently, the bus manufacturer donated a check for $7,396 to Fort Valley, Ga.-based Kay Community Service Center to pay for travel expenses for some of their program participants. The Kay Center provides work programs for local adults with developmental disabilities.
Many of Kay Center’s program participants work at Fort Valley’s flagship Blue Bird.
Kay Center employs approximately 73 adults, and more than half of the center’s work-based programs revolve around Blue Bird outsourced job functions. Some of those job functions include bulk mailing, sorting materials, kitting of small parts and maintenance assistance. Of the 73 Key Center employees, 60 are registered to participate in Special Olympics events throughout the year.
The money Blue Bird donated was provided by Blue Bird suppliers and employees who participated in the company’s recent annual supplier meeting and charity golf tournament. Phil Horlock, president and CEO of Blue Bird, said the donated check represents the importance Kay Center is to the company. “We outsource various project tasks to the Key Center and its dedicated employees have continually provided Blue Bird with quality, honest work,” he said. “We wish the Kay Center athletes good luck as they compete in the upcoming Special Olympics.”
Kay Center Executive Director Todd Youngblood adds that Blue Bird’s generous donation will enable the center’s athletes to venture out of their daily routine. “Athletes will have the chance to travel, meet new people and see places that they otherwise would not have the opportunity to do,” he said.
