Student Transportation of America Ltd. (STA) drivers and staff at the company’s Collegeville, Pa., terminal, and employees of STA subsidiary Student Transportation of Canada (STC) in Ontario raised money this month to fight cancer.
Drivers and staff in Collegeville hosted an Alex’s Lemonade Stand fundraiser at their annual employee picnic. More than 200 drivers, aides and terminal personnel raised nearly $4,200 by selling lemonade, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation T-shirts and baked goods to friends, family and community sponsors.
Wynnewood, Pa.-based Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer was conceived by deceased cancer patient Alexandra “Alex” Scott. At the age of 4, Alex manned a lemonade stand to help her doctors find a cure for all children with cancer. The foundation has since raised more than $25 million toward finding a cure, funding more than 80 research projects nationally.
“It was STA bus driver Terry Frey’s idea to hold the picnic fundraiser to honor the memory of fellow employee Ada Curtis’ two great-grandchildren, who recently lost battles with childhood cancer,” said Emma Trauger, manager of the company’s Collegeville terminal. “The support of the other drivers was overwhelming. STA’s regional headquarters was so impressed with our employees’ fundraising efforts that they contributed $1,000 to the cause.”
Meanwhile, STC employees participated in the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, an overnight, non-competitive relay in which teams of 10 take turns walking, running and strolling around a track. The annual event celebrates cancer survivors, remembers loved ones lost to cancer and raises funds to help find a cure.
The STC team, organized by Penny Batherson, the company’s area manager of safety and training, raised $2,500 and won “Best Theme” for wearing pink T-shirts, pig ears and boas in recognition of team co-sponsor Chez Piggy, a local restaurant.
“We all have been touched by cancer in one way or another,” said Batherson, who works at the company's Parkview Transit terminal in Bradford. “We felt it would be a nice, small thing we could do together to help.”
