Kentucky School Bus Driver Buys 3rd Grader Pajamas To Participate In Pajama Day

Farrish has been a bus driver for seven years, and he described the students who get on his bus as 'his kids.'

Larry Farrish Jr., a 35-year-old Kentucky bus driver, touched the heart of one of his third graders on Feb. 9. The Engelhard Elementary School student was having a bad day at school because he had no pajamas for pajama day.

According to a Jefferson County Public School press release, when Farrish pulled up at one of the stops on his bus route, he saw 3rd grader Levi sitting on the curb looking upset. He recalled to Today News, “Normally when I pull up, he’s standing there waiting for me with a big smile, but on this day, he was sitting on the ground with a jacket over his head.”

“I asked him, ‘Hey buddy, what’s going on? What’s wrong?’”

Farrish said Levi had “a face full of tears,” as the boy explained that he couldn’t participate in Pajama Day because he didn’t have any pajamas at home.

Farrish told the outlet, “I thought, ‘I gotta fix this. It hurt me so bad. That just wasn’t my Levi, and I wanted him to have a good day. No child should have to miss out on something as small as pajama day.”

As soon as Farrish dropped Levi and the rest of his kids off at school, he continued to the nearest Family Dollar store to buy several pairs of pajamas in a few different sizes for Levi. He returned to the school and brought the pajamas into the front office.

The school administration called Levi down, and they were able to present the gift to him.

“It really turned the whole Friday around, for him and for me,” Farrish added.

Levi opened up about the experience as well. He admitted that he cried tears of joy when he got his pajamas.

Levi began, “I can tell Mr. Larry is nice and his heart is filled with joy. I’m usually really happy, but not on pajama day…When he got me the pajamas, I did a happy cry.”

Farrish has been a bus driver for seven years, and he described the students who get on his bus as “his kids.”

“They become my kids after they leave their parents. I make sure they get to and from school safe, but I also try to bring some type of joy to their lives,” he said.

Jefferson County Public Schools shared what happened on its social media, and Farrish described being sent a flood of messages by parents whose kids he drives to school every day.

“For people to actually be able to find me and reach out on behalf of such a small gesture, it made me cry,” Farrish expressed. “It feels good knowing I made an impact on a child’s life.”