Drew Bunton – 15 in 2015

// Retired Volunteer // 32 years in Saline County

Saline County resident Drew Bunten believes every person has a God-given talent and his has always been working with children and serving others. Thousands of little lives have been influenced by Drew who dreamed of being a school teacher. “Working with children came easy for me and children responded to me well. All I ever wanted to be was a teacher and find a better way to teach.” Drew obtained a Bachelor of Science in special education from the University of Central Arkansas and his first teaching job was at Chicot Elementary.

When Drew and his wife Leigh needed a daycare for their two children, he quickly realized there was not a childcare facility that met their expectations. Armed with his gift of connecting with children and the desire to teach, Drew opened The Learning Center on Stagecoach in 1984. The Learning Center grew from one location to 5 facilities across Saline County.

Drew and his staff had one guiding principle for operation: take care of the clients. “Our basic philosophy from the day we opened and we kept until the day we ended was to take care of our client, and our client was our children. As long as the kids had some place where they were learning, they enjoyed and they were loved, we knew it would be a success.” Drew sold The Learning Centers and his second successful business, Home Plate Diner, in 2011 but retirement was not in Drew’s nature.

After caring for others for so many years and participating in mission work in the U.S. and abroad, Drew found a way here at home to make a difference through volunteering at New Life Church’s Arkansas Dream Center. When the need for an after school program was mentioned, Drew helped to get it going and volunteered there alongside his wife. Once that program was established, the two then funded and volunteered for a program that currently feeds up to 200 people a day, something God had also provided training for through his experience with Home Plate Diner.

Drew now spends his time working at a furniture warehouse that provides for those in need at no charge. “Anytime you help others, it feels good. I’ve been blessed by God to have the ability, the time and the financial resources to help people, and this is a way of passing on the blessing.”

His entire career, and now into retirement, Drew has been investing in the lives of others with the simple philosophy of “Look, See and Do.” Look to see what needs to be done, then do something.”