Meet Vince: CityKidz Bus Driver Making A Difference
Some volunteer origin stories are elaborate. Vince’s is beautifully simple: his boss mentioned CityKidz needed bus drivers, he had a commercial licence collecting dust, and he thought, why not? That was September 2025, and he’s been behind the wheel every Saturday since.
Vince is a married man with a serious travel habit. He and his wife are already counting down to a two-week trip to Thailand, the latest in a life spent exploring. Closer to home, he works at Air Liquide, just across the street from CityKidz. The company has been one of our supporters for years and volunteering felt like a natural next step for Vince. As for handling the bus itself, Vince is no stranger to heavy machinery – for someone used to what he operates at work, navigating Hamilton’s side streets is child’s play.
What Vince didn’t expect was the scale of what he was joining. “I didn’t realize it was quite the operation,” he says. “It seems very well organized, very well run.” Those big red buses he drives are a bigger deal than they might appear from the outside. For many kids, transportation is a real barrier to accessing programs like CityKidz, and the buses reach across the city to remove that obstacle entirely. The ride itself is half the magic. Kids light up when that big red bus rolls around the corner, and many will tell you it’s their favourite part of the whole experience.
Driving the route each week, Vince thinks about what these kids are carrying and what they’re reaching for. Having consistent, caring adults show up for them matters in ways that ripple outward. CityKidz works to widen what’s possible for kids, and Vince is glad to be in the driver’s seat for it.
He’s only been at it a few months, still getting to know the kids, still building his story with them. But his reason for being there is already clear and he’s not planning on pulling over anytime soon.
If you’ve got the licence, Vince would tell you the rest is straightforward. And if you don’t? CityKidz needs all kinds of volunteers. Find your place on the team today.