Pathways to success in Delaware via the blue bus

Delaware restaurateur Matt Haley legacy continues to live on thanks to his humanitarian efforts.

One of those efforts comes in the shape of a blue bus. The bus provides one non-profit organization in Sussex County the ability to transport students around to events that they normally wouldn’t travel because of the distance.

According to Faye Blake, Pathways to Success mission has always been to expose children in under served areas to much more than what their communities have to offer.

“Often times if where you are is all you see, you really don’t know what’s outside and maybe the possibilities for you,” Blake said.

Blake, the executive director of the organization said a very limited budget posed some challenges when it came to traveling until the late Haley stepped in and donated a blue bus. Although Haley donated the bus in April, the organization is finally putting it to great use. In fact, in October a group of students traveled to the Washington D.C to tour the White House.

“We want them to be able to land jobs, go to college and or the military when they leave high school,” Blake said.

The bus seats at least two dozen passengers. It helps many of the students PTS serve at Cape Henlopen High School and Sussex Tech High School.

Scott Cammerer of Sodel Concepts worked with the late Haley to donate the bus they both considered a perfect fit for PTS.

“I feel like building bridges, collaborating and building community richness is a huge goal, ” Cammerer added.

The story of the bus was told during a memorial service for Haley in September. An Ocean City, Md. radio station bought the bus as a promotion. The morning jock realized the bus wasn’t as big a promotional tool as he had hoped.  He called his friend Matt Haley who agreed to buy the bus.  His original goal was to turn it into a traveling restaurant school. Then he heard about the need for transportation at Pathways to Success.

“He also gave us the bio-diesel fuel generated by the cooking oil from his enterprises to fuel the big blue bus. You know Matt, he never ever did anything halfway,” Blake said.

Although Haley intended for the blue bus to run off bio-diesel fuel generated by cooking oil from his restaurants, the fuel system hasn’t been converted yet but the switch is expected sometime next year.

Meanwhile, Blake believes that the blue bus serves as a reminder of Haley’s kindness and as an example of how people should not only give but love unconditionally.

“You’d be surprised how many of the kids who lived in some of our under-served areas never been to an amusement park, they’ve never gone to the Smithsonian Institute or never seen a play before so these experiences are very rich experiences to help them broaden their horizons,” Blake said.

Tune into to First tonight at 5:30p.m and again at 11:00p.m to see the full story on Pathways to Success, its blue bus and how you can help Haley’s legacy alive too.