GREENVILLE, Ky. — Cody McElrath staked out a spot to line up his miniature cars with two playmates, then exclaimed, “Let’s ram them.” Nearby, three girls played games or colored, looking up occasionally to watch an animated video.
The children showed no outward signs of the terror a few days earlier when tornadoes ravaged western Kentucky.
Instead, while their parents were busy reassembling their lives, the children were content playing inside a former school bus converted into a mobile playroom just for kids who have been through disasters.
“It’s the simple things in life that keep kids busy and keep them happy,” said Kathryn Martin, the driving force behind “C.J.’s Bus,” named for her 2-year-old son, among the 25 killed in 2005 by a tornado near Evansville, Ind. “None of these kids have ever questioned whether this bus is for them or not. They just want to come in the happy boy’s bus, and that makes me feel good.”
Besides giving children some sense of a return to normal, the mobile playground supervised by volunteers also gives frazzled parents a chance to focus on recovering their lives.
The donated, rebuilt bus is stocked with toys, games, coloring books, crayons and a flat-screen television in a 280-square-foot play space. The back of the bus has a small area for volunteers — a bathroom and shower, beds and cooking facilities.
