Krapf Coaches and their historic Rover Community Transportation service are to be honored with the Handi-Crafters Opportunity Center Inaugural Community Partner Award.

The Community Partner Award is presented annually by Handi-Crafters Opportunity Center to honor a community partner who has gone above and beyond to broaden horizons for the amazing individuals they serve.

“Handi-Crafters is pleased to announce this new award,” said April Ennis-Pierson, Handi-Crafters’ Executive Director.

“Our Inaugural Community Partner Award will honor over four decades of Community Transportation provided by Krapf Coaches. While Krapf ended the Rover Community Transportation program at the end of last year, it was important for our agency to express our gratitude for the dedicated years of service that provided hundreds of individuals travel back and forth to Handi-Crafters for more than forty years. We recognize the community partnership and thank Krapf Coaches for their longstanding investment in providing the valuable service.”

In 1942, George Krapf, Jr. began a school bus company with two school buses. By 1982, Krapf Coaches was established to provide motorcoach service to the local communities. As an extension of that service, Krapf Coaches stepped up and began transporting Handi-Crafter’s clients to and from work.

In 1984, the County of Chester contracted with Krapf as the provider of its county-wide shared ride program. Gary Krapf, President of Krapf Transportation, said “It was the passion of the people that drove us to be a part of the solution.”

In 2005, the then-current program called Chester County Paratransit System was refreshed and rebranded to Rover Community Transportation, giving the equipment and the brand a fresh and fun look.

“It was the drivers and monitors day in and day out that made the service work; without their can-do spirit and love for the job they had, we would not have been as successful as we were,” remembered Krapf.

“Through the years, Rover and its employees provided hundreds of thousands of successful trips to area residents annually, many of which were to and from Handi-Crafters. It would be near impossible to know the total number of rides provided by the fleet of drivers and monitors who over the years built great friendships and displayed passion in serving our clients.”

As the sun set on Rover in December 2023, the County of Chester assumed most of the transportation services that Rover had provided for nearly 40 years.

The Inaugural Community Partner Award will be formally presented on Thursday evening, May 2, 2024, during Handi-Crafters Annual Spring Benefit Evening, presented by Bentley Systems.

Handi-Crafters will also present Crazy Aaron with the Best Friend Award. The Best Friend Award is given annually by Handi-Crafters to recognize and honor service, commitment, and dedication to Handi-Crafters and its mission.

Handi-Crafters is one of the largest employment and disability-focused, non-profit work centers in Southeast Pennsylvania. Each year they help over 200 individuals to access rewarding job opportunities in the community and in their Thorndale-based production hub.

Read more about Krapf Coaches and the Handi-Crafters Opportunity Center.

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