Help to 'Stuff the Bus' and help a student in need get ready for school
For many Great Falls families, buying the basics to get their children ready to start school is a struggle.
According to Great Falls Public Schools two in five local students live in poverty, and more than 500 of the district's 10,000 enrolled students are homeless. All but one of the district's 15 neighborhood schools has a food pantry or fills backpacks with food for kids to take home on the weekends
To help, United Way is collecting school supplies and living essentials as part of its annual "Stuff the Bus" drive on Thursday, Aug. 10. More than 100 volunteers will be at one of three yellow school buses donated by Big Sky Bus Lines in the parking lots of Target (2000 10th Ave. S.), the north side Walmart (701 Smelter Ave. NE), and the east side Walmart (5320 10th Ave. S.) between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Now in its 14th year, the "Stuff the Bus" event has grown with each passing year, reaching more and more students in need. Last year generous Cascade County citizens donated more than 15,000 items. including 400 backpacks, 1,964 notebooks, 1,294 packs of pens and pencils and 2,798 boxes of crayons, markers and colored pencils.
Supplies collected through these community drives and from shoppers that day will be given to local kids through the public schools and area nonprofits like the Great Falls Children’s Receiving Home, Boys & Girls Club and St. Vincent de Paul.
Many lessons involve computers and other technology, making inexpensive earbuds or headphones as important as notebooks and pencils. However, the need frequently goes well beyond school supplies.
“Many of our kids need more than crayons and calculators,” said United Way of Cascade County Marketing Director Kim Skornogoski. “We know that if students don’t have shampoo to wash their hair, or have a toothache from not brushing their teeth, they can’t focus as well in the classroom.”
“Each year, the community amazes us with their generosity,” Skornogoski said. “And as a result, we are able to help more and more kids.”
This year’s Stuff the Bus will also provide supplies for the Back 2 School Blast on Aug. 18. The Back 2 School Blast will have free food, free haircuts, free backpacks and more from noon to 4 p.m. at the Civic Center. Kids who haven’t per-registered for backpacks are still able to get one on a first come basis.
Topping the list of needed items are backpacks, composition notebooks, earbuds and dry erase markers.
People can donate either online at www.uwccmt.org or by mail at PO Box 1343, Great Falls, MT 59403. To sponsor a student is $50.
Needed supplies include notebooks, 3-ring binders, dry erase markers, highlighters, pencils, crayons, calculators, scissors, glue sticks, backpacks, inexpensive head phones/ear buds, composition notebooks, lunch boxes, books (new or gently used,) 2-pocket folders, toilet paper, tissue paper, paper towels, non-perishable food, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, diapers, combs, new children's clothing (socks, shoes, underwear, shirts, pants,) liquid soap, and hand sanitizer.
This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: United Way Stuff the Bus campaign Thursday in Great Falls
