Stuck in Vermont- Everyone Loves Lucy

Lucy Cooney loves kids, and they love her back. Mother of 10 and grandmother of 15, Lucy has been working with children for the past 60 years. For the past two decades, she has been a bus driver at the Shelburne Community School and a paraeducator. In her spare time, the 78-year-old grandmother volunteers as a seamstress for local theater productions. Lucy also knits ornaments to raise money for a nonprofit called Lucy’s Love Bus that was founded by her granddaughter and provides support to children fighting cancer. When the global pandemic shut down school in March, Lucy became worried that the kids were lonely. So she covered her car in yellow contact paper and drove her old bus route to visit “her kids.” Lucy returned to work in September, and she follows the new COVID-19 protocols to keep everyone safe. Her bus has room for 90 people, and yet these days there are between 13 and 17 masked students who ride on different days, sitting far apart from people outside their family unit. Hand sanitizer is dispensed, and there is a roll call at the start of the trip. One thing hasn’t changed: Lucy’s kids are always happy to see her.