Oldham Co. volunteer wins 2019 Heroes for Children award

VEGA, Texas — An Oldham County man who has been volunteering with students for more than a decade has gotten a big honor from the Texas State Board of Education.

“Bud definitely has a strong sense of humor,” said Vega High School Senior Madisyn Ellis. “He’ll make a joke anytime.”

“Bud is actually my uncle,” said Vega High School Ag teacher Jay Newton. “When my mom and dad divorced in 2nd grade, he and my granddad raised me. All of the skills I’ve learned come from him.”

Bud Allred has been helping out the Vega High School Ag Mechanics program for at least 15 years now.

“We tell the kids that if they can dream it, we’ll find a way to build it,” said Bud Allred. “We don’t limit them in any way.”

Allred is a retired farmer who loves working with kids and has a lot of respect for the program.

“This is the best program I know of that lets kids have the satisfaction of building a project, completing it, showing it and being successful,” said Allred.

Allred is one of 15 volunteers across the state to win a 2019 Heroes for Children award. He and the other winners received the award in Austin on Sept., 13, 2019.

He won District 15, which covers 77 counties.

“He’s helped us all these years that we’ve grown up and knowing he won it is pretty incredible," Ellis said.

“I got sick last year and was down for three or four days and Bud came in and pretty much just stepped in and took over for me and helped the kids. They got the project built and fortunately went to San Antonio and we had the grand champion project in San Antonio, so had he not been able to come in and volunteer and help, it probably, wouldn’t have happened,” said Newton.

But Allred is humble.

“It’s a great honor. I don’t feel like I deserve it. I’m just over here because I enjoy spending time with the kids,” said Allred.

During his interview with ABC 7 News, he continued to brag on the program.

“This was our senior project last year; a 13-yard scraper. The class was 3 girls and a boy and the ladies made excellent welders,” said Allred.

While he does help these students with their projects, he also helps teach them much-needed life skills.

“They can come out of this program and get a real job. We are going to turn out welders, painters, electricians, fabricators that can go out and use their skills somewhere else in life,” said Allred.

“Personally, I don’t come from a farming family, so all these skills I’m learning is going to help me in the future, learning time management and work with others and communication skills,” said Ellis.

Allred will often stay with the kids into the early morning hours or on the weekend to ensure the projects are the best they can be.