Donation drive aims to 'Stuff the Bus'

Aug. 4—Despite a late start due to weather, United Way volunteers turned out in force Friday to collect supplies to get kids off to a successful start to the school year.

The Stuff the Bus drive is held annually during tax-free weekend to receive donations of classroom items like paper, pens and folders. Buses were parked outside both Walmart locations in St. Joseph Friday, and volunteers will be back collecting items from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. again on Saturday.

"Rain does not deter us, lightning does," said Kylee Strough, the United Way of Greater St. Joseph president. "Our volunteers are hearty, and they will stand out here in the rain and we will collect the supplies and get them on the bus and keep them dry just as fast as we can."

In its 14th year, Stuff the Bus involves about 300 volunteers handing out flyers at the doorways or doing inventory with the collected supplies.

Inventory organization is critical for the United Way because once the event wraps up, the donations are taken to the Salvation Army to prepare for distribution into the community.

"It goes to them highly organized because they're going to be putting together kits for area students and they're going to distribute those on Thursday, Aug. 10," Strough said. "They will serve families with kiddos preschool through high school with school supplies ... the child needs as well as a backpack to go with it."

The United Way holds onto extra supplies, so if a family misses the kits being distributed, there is a backup plan in place. Strough said in years past there have been enough supplies left over that the agency has been able to reach out to Buchanan, Andrew and Doniphan county schools to see if there are needs that can be filled.

"I think the one thing that we've learned and we get reminded of and you see it just like in-person and right up close, we were reminded of the community's generosity," Strough said. "These individuals and families who come into Walmart and then they come hand us sometimes a cart full of school supplies, sometimes it's just a package of crayons, but to see the generosity and the caring exhibited and to be a part of that in person is fantastic."

The event would not be possible, Strough said, without the partnership with Walmart and Mosaic Life Care. The United Way works to make sure that Walmart's supply section is fully stocked, so the shopping experience is easy for those entering these locations to make donations.

The goal is to gather enough supplies to make sure area students are ready for their next school year, but there is no clear way to calculate the perfect amount.

"We just want to collect enough supplies to meet the need, and we really don't know what that need is because families will just show up on Thursday, but we expect that might be higher because things are costing a little bit more, paychecks are not going quite as far as they used to," Strough said. "There might be more families who in the past it hurt but they were able to get their kids school supplies who this year it might be a choice between groceries or school supplies or paying the light bills. So come get the school supplies."

Past years have seen as much as 14,000 to 20,000 school supply items collected in the two-day period. Monetary donations also are welcome. If individuals miss the drop-off periods at Walmart this weekend, they can call the United Way at 816-364-2381 to donate.

Stef Manchen can be reached at stef.manchen@newspressnow.com.