Volunteers clean up Cape benches less than a week before school starts

Some bus benches are amid overgrown vegetation. The community banned together to put these benches at bus stops after losing two little girls to hit-and-run drivers. But, who takes care of the benches?

A group of retired pilots said they saw a need and decided to do something about it. They are taking upon themselves to clean up several school bus benches in Cape Coral.

“We saw your story in the news a couple of days ago,” Alan Affourtit said, “and said, ‘why not? Let’s do it.'”

They have a list of more than 100 benches in need of a quick paint job and some landscaping before school starts on Aug. 12.

It is a small gesture by several volunteers and it will have a significant impact. Their kindness brought the founders of Benches For Our Babes to tears.

“Knowing that most of them will be done before school and they won’t be flooded and overgrown and boards sticking up,” said Nicole Fitzpatrick, a founder for Benches For Our Babes, “knowing that they’ll actually get done is just heartwarming.”

Their motivation is simple.

“There’s more than we can do on our list, which is why we hope some other fellas will jump in,” Affourtit said. “That’s just; it’s for the kids.”

They worked on 17 bus stops Wednesday and will be back on Thursday. The volunteers plan to stay until the work is done. Benches For Our Babes said it hopes to add solar lights. It wants to add the technology to as many benches as possible, as soon as possible.