Tina Hutcherson, a dedicated school bus driver, is knitting beanies to ensure her young passengers stay warm and feel cherished during the chilly winter months.
In Oklahoma City, Tina Hutcherson is not your average bus driver. She goes beyond her duties by knitting cozy beanies for the students she transports, spreading warmth and affection along her route.
At 63, Hutcherson serves the Putnam City School District. Her mission is clear: make sure every child has a hat, so no one is left in the cold.
Speaking to KAKE, Hutcherson revealed that crafting each hat takes between 30 to 45 minutes, thanks to a knitting machine her daughter gifted her. This sparked the idea to create a collection of beanies for her students.
“I thought, ‘Oh Lord, I have to make hats for all my kids on the bus now,'” Hutcherson shared with ABC News.
Despite having a substantial collection that occupies a significant part of the bus’s dashboard, her intention isn’t to sell them but to give them freely to the students.
“I just want to knit for people, to see the smile on their face when they get it,” she told KOCO.
Hutcherson began knitting at 12 and said her collection of yarn is so large she can make “any hats I wanna make” in any colors. She said she lets the kids on her bus choose what colors they want and makes them reversible.
“So if these kids need a hat, coat, I like making ponchos for them, I don’t care, they’re gonna get it,” she told KOCO.
The kids, in return, gift her handmade thank you cards with personalized messages.
“They put all that they love me and I’m the ‘best bus driver ever’ and I thought ‘oh my God this is awesome,’” she told Good Morning America.
She has knitted hats for 25 elementary schools students so far and is planning to give more away after the Thanksgiving break.
“I just hope they take away that somebody loves ’em, and that’s all,” she told KOCO. “And if they don’t have any love at home, they gonna get on this bus in the morning, and they gonna get a ‘good morning,’ and love, and they always know they can always talk to me about anything. I want them to be safe.”
