Stuff the Bus school supply drive nears
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on August 1, 2018 5:50 AM
The annual Stuff the Bus, one of Wayne County's largest school supply drives, will take place in one week on Aug. 8.
A yellow school bus will be in the Goldsboro News-Argus parking lot, at 310 N. Berkeley Blvd., with volunteers and others pitching in to collect donated supplies throughout the day. Donations can be dropped off between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
But donations are currently being accepted inside the News-Argus prior to the event.
The Stuff the Bus campaign is coordinated by Communities Supporting Schools in Wayne County, in partnership with the News-Argus.
Everything received from the drive is distributed as equally as possible among the public schools, said Selena Bennett, Communities Supporting Schools executive director.
"We take these supplies, and we divide them among all the Wayne County public schools -- every pencil and piece of notebook paper stays in Wayne County," she said. "I do that so that school social workers and school counselors can count on having something for those students they have identified (in need). By doing it that way, I know that every school gets something, and then social workers and counselors have what they need."
The suggested list of items includes, but is not limited to, pens, pencils, markers, crayons and mechanical pencils, on up to boxes of tissues and hand sanitizer. No donation is too big or too small.
"We can always use thumb drives, not just your traditional pencils, crayons and paper," Bennett said. "The marble composition books are always in high demand. And loose-leaf paper, we never get enough loose-leaf notebook paper.
"For people that want to buy backpacks, keep in mind that we have young children that need small backpacks, as well as middle and high schoolers that need larger backpacks."
Collecting school supplies for area children remains a priority, and the needs are as prevalent today as they were when the Communities Supporting Schools fundraiser started 18 years ago, in 2000, Bennett said.
Many families continue to struggle to afford everything a child needs prior to the school year. The process can be stressful for many parents trying to juggle regular responsibilities with having the added pressure to buy pencils and paper, as well as backpacks and calculators.
Stuff the Bus was originally held during North Carolina's previous tax-free weekend, which preceded the start of the school year. The tax-free weekend is no longer available, following a decision by the Legislature.
As items are dropped off on Aug. 8, they will be placed inside the school bus, with the ultimate goal of stuffing the school bus with needed supplies.
Area residents, a collection of loyal and annual donors, organizations and churches all contribute to the effort each year.
School supplies can also be dropped off inside the News-Argus, which opens at 8 a.m., before donations are collected in the parking lot. Financial contributions, which go toward school supplies, can also be made during the event.
"We also accept monetary donations if they don't have time to shop," Bennett said. "Some will give us money and say, 'Use it wherever you need.' So what I do is put it into a student support fund so that during the year, if I run out of book bags, I have got that money to go out and get what they need or things that may not be on the list."
Communities Supporting Schools board members plan to participate in collecting the items this year, as well as employees of the Goldsboro News-Argus.
Bennett is also available to speak to any club or organization about CSS and its project, including the school supply drive.
"It's a tremendous effort, that's all I can say," Bennett said. "The community has always responded so well, and this kind of signals it's back-to-school time when they see the big school bus at the News-Argus.
"It's a great partnership between the News-Argus and other businesses and civic clubs because they recognize the need and they want to give it to a place where they're sure it's going to go where it's supposed to.
"We know this does not fix every situation, but it's a start. There are organizations that think, 'I would like to wait and do something, say, at Thanksgiving or Christmas.'
"That's fine because we have needs all year, not just at the beginning of the school year."
For more information, Bennett can be reached at 919-735-1432 or sbennett@waynecss.org. The website address is waynecss.org.