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AURORA, Colo. — The community came together to get a delivery bus up and running for a nonprofit helping families in need of baby essentials.
WeeCycle Executive Director Morgan Seibel says the bus is driving better than before. The short bus delivers and picks up thousands of diapers monthly.
“We have been serving approximately 700 children a week,” Seibel said.
The demand increased this year drastically compared to last when the organization served 11,000 children, all year. The nonprofit helps families and organizations in need of baby essentials and diapers.
Seibel says she struggled to keep up with demand last month after a criminal stripped the bus of the catalytic converter, causing thousands in damage. It put the bus out of commission for more than a month.
A local mechanic offered the nonprofit a temporary van to use and planned to gift it to the organization, but Seibel says crooks struck again and stole the catalytic converter. She ended up returning the van.
Employees volunteered to use their cars to make deliveries and pickups, but they were much smaller compared to the bus capacity, which can fit 30,000 diapers.
“A diaper isn’t just a diaper when you have a baby; being able to keep them dry and clean and healthy is all you care about as a parent,” Seibel said.
Denver7 shared Wee Cycle’s story in early May and viewers came to her rescue, raising $850.
Juan Carlos Saenz, a mechanic and part-owner of ECP Auto Salvage and Repair, caught the story on Denver7 and reached out to help. He donated the parts needed to replace the catalytic converter on the bus and put Morgan in touch with another mechanic that slashed the labor price.
Morgan says she was initially quoted about $2,000 for the bus repair but only paid $400.
Saenz says many people are struggling and he wanted to help pay it forward.
“This is the time to help each other,” Saenz said.
“Eight-hundred-fifty dollars is a lot of diapers, a lot of car seats and a lot of healthier and happier babies here in Colorado,” Seibel said.
In a time of need, when the nation is fighting a pandemic, and families are struggling with unemployment and tight budgets, Morgan found hope and compassion from her community.
Her nonprofit landlord has also offered her a place to store the bus, cost-free, for a year.
“Thank you, thank you so much to Channel 7 and to everybody that donated and to all of those that reached out to help get our bus back in action,” Seibel said.
