Five months after opening at its east end location, SunnyTimes Day Care will no longer offer customers a drive-thru window to drop off and pick up their children. William Brown, SunnyTime’s attorney, said that although many clients enjoyed the service, the facility’s insurance carrier threatened to drop SunnyTime’s coverage unless the drive-thru window was shut down immediately.
“I’m disappointed”, said SunnyTimes client Marjorie Bennett. “It was a great to be able to drop your child off and pick them up without getting out of the car. Especially in the winter when it’s so cold outside. Plus, with the drive-thru I didn’t have to go inside and talk to the people that work there. I never really enjoyed that”.
Due to the size of the drive-thru window, the service was only offered until children could walk unassisted. “For a lot of reasons, I’m looking forward to when my child can walk”, said a SunnyTimes client who wished to remain anonymous. “But I was kind of hoping that it didn’t happen until it was a little warmer outside. Well, I guess that doesn’t matter now that their (closing the drive thru)”.
Brown said that despite some members of the community expressing concern about the safety of the drive-thru service, no children were injured or harmed in any way during its use.
“No child was ever (injured), at least not physically” said Brown. “It was a simple transaction, where the client would hand their child over to a trusted SunnyTimes employee, who would in return give the client a numbered ticket. For pick up, the client would simply give the ticket to the drive-thru employee, and in turn would be handed their child back. Kind of like a coat check, only for infants”.
Despite closing its drive-thru, SunnyTimes will remain open and hopes to add another east end location before the end of the year. And, according to Brown, the company will continue to try new ideas to “innovate the child care industry”.
“Lots of (ideas) are being discussed, and while I can’t give details, let’s just say that the way your child is fed at a day care center may never be the same again”.
The Louisville Press 