Derby airman on mission to keep children safe as volunteer crossing guard

DERBY, Kan. (KWCH) - In Derby, there’s an added emphasis on public safety and efforts to prevent people from getting hit by cars. Spotlighting the issue is an accident from last August in which a school bus hit and killed an eight-year-old in Oaklawn.

Addressing growing concerns from parents of children at nearby El Paso Elementary School. An airman who lives in the community is taking time to localize his service, wearing an orange vest to serve as a volunteer crossing guard.

“I felt like I needed to do something, there was a way that I could help,” said Aaron Saunders, a Technical Sergeant at McConnell Air Force Base. “A lot of parents were talking about close calls and just wished somebody would step up, and I felt like I could do that for them.”

Once word spread, others stepped up to help the airman.

“We created a and it’s pretty much all the way full,” Saunders said. “They share the same ideas that I do, that these kids need to be protected.”

In Derby, just in April, police responded to three accidents involving vehicles hitting people. Two happened near a school.

“With a couple of those being children through intersections, and through areas of the city, so we are focusing and trying to educate, drivers and pedestrians,” said Derby Police Captain Karensa Schiffle.

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