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"Having gone through the
Evansville tornado and having lost one of my four children, I know how
important it is to help children maintain their innocence in these
disasters while providing parents a few hours to attend to their own
recovery needs. I could think of no greater legacy to my son than to
help put smiles on the faces of other children facing these traumatic
situations and to help by lightening the child care burden on their
parents, if only for a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days."
--
Kathryn Martin, founder of CJ's Bus |
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CJ's Bus
is a rapid-response self-contained mobile recreation unit which
is deployed to disaster sites nationwide in order to keep children
distracted and entertained in a safe group environment in the immediate
aftermath phase of natural or man-made disasters. The bus is
deployed in partnership with local emergency managers in law enforcement
and fire and rescue in order to provide maximum benefit to the families
and children in communities hit by disaster.
With the goal of being on-site within 1-2 days following a qualified
disaster, CJ's Bus is a recognized destination staffed by
certified volunteers where families feel safe to leave their
children for a few minutes or hours as they attend to the immediate
recovery needs of their family, businesses, and community. The objective
of CJ's Bus is to create an atmosphere where "kids can be kids." This
is accomplished by using the inside and especially the outside
perimeter of the bus for a wide variety of entertaining and interactive
age-appropriate activities, both active and passive.
CJ's Bus is a 40-foot vehicle equipped with state of the art
games, toys, and books that encourage group play as well as individual
creative play and gross motor and fine motor active play. Activities for
children include drawing, painting, reading, computer games,
sports trivia games, videos, jewelry making and other crafts. Other
physical play activities: hula hoops, jump rope, basketball, and kiddie
pools. Awnings, tents, outdoor rubber matting and fencing are
utilized to maximize outdoor activity when possible.
Weather permitting, CJ's Bus will also hold "movie and popcorn nights"
for local families, children, and first responders to come and enjoy as
a community.
The bus incorporates bright and vibrant colors and images to make it
inviting to children and foster a sense of hope in an otherwise
desperate situation. The bus liberally uses
windows to enhance visibility from within and outside the bus to
foster a sense of safety and comfort for children and parents alike.
CJ's Bus is staffed by people certified and trained in caring for
the unique needs of children in disaster situations.
Children will always be in the care of at least two adult supervisors with a target ratio of
8:1 of children to supervisors. Our volunteers
are certified in the Disaster Child Care training program
established by the faith-based group Children's Disaster Services, responsible for certifying
emergency child care workers for The American Red Cross. Furthermore, we
operate under state guidelines for emergency child care
services and seek state exemptions in advance of deployment in
areas of operation.
CJ's Bus encourages children to focus on their crayons instead of
the devastation around them and permit them to remain innocent during
disasters. CJ's Bus targets potty-trained children 3-12 years old
and is available for supervised use from 7AM to 9PM. Safety
for the children using CJ's Bus is our number one priority. All
CJ's Bus volunteers have successfully completed security background
checks and a three-level (photo I.D./wristband/verified-contact-system)
will be employed to ensure that children are safely returned to their
rightful guardians at the end of their play care sessions. |
