“I went to the door of the day care and it was locked,” Ruby, of Fort Dodge, recalled. “I usually get to the day care 10 minutes before work, which is 8 o’clock, so I was in a real jam.”

That’s when he placed a call to Charles Clayton at Athletics for Education and Success.

“I called up Charles and asked if I could hurry up, swing by, and drop them off,” Ruby said. “He said that’s fine. He didn’t think twice about it.”

Ruby is a single father. He has two sons: Robert Ruby, 7, and Isaac Ruby, 4.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Drew Ruby, of Fort Dodge, along with his son, Robert Ruby, 7, at left, dodge a football tossed by Isaac Ruby, 4.

Despite Drew Ruby’s best effort, he was a little bit late for work that day.

“About 10 minutes,” he said. “But I didn’t have to call in or anything.”

He works as a social and emotional learning program associate leader at LifeWorks Community Services.

It wasn’t the last time AFES helped him out.

“He (Charles) did the same thing last week, only this time it was the afternoon,” Drew Ruby said. “My day care provider said she was sick around noon. I could have probably taken the day off, but he knows I am big on always working. He texted and let them come in. He let them come in Thursday and Friday also. He didn’t charge or even think about it.”

Drew Ruby, a 2007 Fort Dodge Senior High graduate, coaches football and basketball for AFES.

He’s appreciated the support of the program.

“Charles is the type of guy you can thank him, but you feel like you need to do more,” Drew Ruby said. “He’s never charged me for day care even though I’ve asked him many times how to pay him back.”

Being a single father isn’t easy. Drew Ruby separated from his wife about two years ago, he said.

“This is Isaac’s first year of school, so that comes with new challenges, making sure I get to two different programs instead of one,” Drew Ruby said. “Two different conferences instead of one. The first couple years I did AFES, I had my wife with me, so it was a lot easier to take the boys with. She would watch them and I could worry about coaching in the tournament, but now its pretty difficult if I didn’t have my mom.”

Drew Ruby’s mom, Vicky Ruby, helps out a lot too, he said. She works also full time.

“I am the main one that gets them ready for school, the daily challenge of making sure they have dinner, with coaching and doing all that still,” he said. “Bath night and all that stuff. Any issues at school or homework. Having to do that. My mom helps out quite a bit, but when it comes to coaching it’s hard. Sometimes my mom will be working.”

That has resulted in the boys accompanying Drew Ruby on the sidelines.

“Robert will be sitting with my phone and Isaac has even sat on the bench with me coaching in the tournament,” Drew Ruby said.

The boys are still too young to participate in sports at AFES, but that doesn’t stop them from getting involved.

“They give the players advice,” Drew Ruby said. “They have their favorites.”

Other times an iPad is enough to keep them occupied, he said.

“During practice or tournaments, Charles helps me with that keeping them corralled,” Drew Ruby said.

The culture that has developed at AFES has been a benefit.

“It’s just lately I have been thinking about the saying, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ and that’s what I think about when I think about AFES,” Drew Ruby said. “It’s not just Charles, everybody at AFES is really helpful. But Charles leads the way with that mentality. Every time we break a huddle to start a game we say, ‘1-2-3 Family,’ and he has really embraced that.”