Bus drivers serve up for a good cause

Monday to Friday they can be seen navigating the roads of Gwinnett County in their familiar, yellow school buses as they ferry students in bus Zone 06-D to school and back. But for the bus drivers and monitors on this route, their job sometimes has another calling – and its one they’re happy to answer.

Saturday, it was feeding anyone who was willing to contribute to a barbecue fundraiser for Relay for Life, an annual event in support of those who have been touched by cancer. The Gwinnett County School System is a regular contributor to the event and the barbecue luncheon held at the was part of Zone 06-D’s contribution. But for bus driver and event organizer Gene Beaver, his participation was more personal.

“I lost my daughter to cancer last year - she was just 36. It was melanoma. She was diagnosed and 6 months later she was dead,” Beaver said, pointing to tickets for the barbecue. “See there, it says ‘In loving memory of Beth Still.’ Beth was my daughter.”

Beaver said he and other members of the family are helping raise his daughter’s twin boys, 14, and 2-year-old daughter. With cancer having struck so close to home, he’s glad to support the cause.

“If things go well today, we should hit $7,000 we’ve raised through this and other fundraisers we’ve had,” Beaver said, adding they still have a yard sale April 30 at on Grayson Highway.

But Beaver isn’t alone in having a personal story to tell. Supervisor Tana Skillen said she lost both her parents to cancer – her father at 41 and her mother at 62.

“Almost everyone here has been touched by cancer in some way,” Skillen said.

Co-worker Debbie Paproski also lost both her parents to cancer.

“My mother was 49 and my dad was 66,” Paproski said, adding it puts them at higher risk for cancer themselves. “We started going through all the testing a lot earlier.”

Gloria McDaniel, another co-worker at the event, will be walking in this year’s Relay for Life and has done since 1994.

“That’s when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’ve walked every year since,” McDaniel said. “It makes me feel good - it makes me feel proud - and I’m grateful I’m able to walk another year.”

Even Randy Gates, Master of the Snellville Masonic Lodge that allowed the use of its facilities for free, had his own story to tell.

“My wife is a 2-year survivor of cancer so something like this always tugs at the old heart strings,” he said.

Anyone wanting to contribute to Zone 06-D’s fundraising efforts can contact Skillen at 770-554-7034. takes place from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. May 6-7 at in Lawrenceville.