CLEARWATER, Fla. — Gas prices across the country continue to soar.
In North Pinellas County, there is a day care that says it is doing all it can just to keep the kids laughing and playing.
WATCH: Clearwater Day Care feeling the pain at the pump
Vedrana Cajic, owner of Happy Corner Academy, has noticed a drop in students over the last month. She says some parents can no longer afford it.
“The first thing they will cut is the childcare — they are looking at shorter hours or taking them to childcare closer to home,” said Cajic.
Since the war in Iran started, the average gallon of gas in Pinellas County has risen from $2.87 a gallon to $4.28 a gallon. Vedrana says she’s paying an extra $500 a month on deliveries.
“We have catering for our lunches, and that’s gone up, all the supplies that we use have gone up, and it’s a struggle,” said Cajic.
Vedrana has been forced to make decisions no owner ever wants to make, like raising rates and cutting staff hours.
“Very disappointing, it’s very scary, we’ve worked really hard to get to where we are right now,” said Cajic. “Childcare is already a very low-profit business, so to have this is very scary.”
Vedrana has even reached out to her financial advisor at Achieva Credit Union, who says Vedrana is certainly not alone. Small businesses across Pinellas County are feeling the pain at the pump.
“This is a high-level crisis when we talk about oil prices, it's everything that they do day to day in their business that’s going up,” said financial advisor Rebecca Kissoondyal with Achieva Credit Union. “At a time like this, you have to rely on your financial advisors, your financial experts that can help you with your budget and cutting back and make sure you are not going into a financial hole at this time.”
Vedrana says she is so proud to be a five-star academy and is anxious to go back to the days when their biggest priority was hunting for Easter eggs, not ways to cut the budget.
“It’s very hard to focus on everything knowing that you know tomorrow we might not even be open,” said Cajic.
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