Community stuffs school bus for charities

The Churchill County School District is thankful to the parents and students who donated items for charities for Stuff the Bus.

Steve Russell, director of Transportation, said the district has been involved with Stuff the Bus for the last four years.

“In the past, we typically start the fundraiser around Christmastime,” Russell said. “However, we decided on March the past two year to generate a better response. When it’s done around the holidays, people are trying to get things in order for their list, so we figured we’d take away that stress and plan earlier to make easier for people who want to donate. I understand that the local economy has something to do with the amount we will receive but anything we get and are able to donate is better than what we started with.”

Russell said another reason they decided to start in March was because families in need sought clothing and food year-round and not just for the holidays.

Russell said Stuff the Bus started March 17 and ended March 27.

“We received 50 bags of clothing, lots of shoes and jackets and non-perishable foods,” Russell said. “We have received a good amount of donations this year. Once we’re finished the drive we separated everything and give it to Upworthy Pantry and what they didn’t take, they gave to Domestic Violence Intervention and the items DVI didn’t use were given to Stuf ’n Such Thrift Store.”

He said for the three schools that were involved in the donation drive, he believes the schools did very well on their donations. He also stated that next year will bring in better donations.

“I think the budget issue going on within the district kind of overshadowed the event, which is understandable, so hopefully next year we’ll be able to get more word out and not have any distractions to raise the amount of donations we received.”

Russell said the bus was left at Northsdie Early Learning Center and Lahontan and Numa elementary schools.

“When the bus is dropped off, a class gets assigned to decorate the bus,” Russell said. “The bus was decorated in a 60s theme with bright hand prints and colors … even the tires were painted with the bright colors. The students gave the bus school personality … it worked well together.

“We didn’t have a goal to meet this year. Anything that was donated helped us out and gave us one more item that could be donated.”

Russell said Stuff the Bus will continue to take place in the future.

“It’s all about helping individuals within the community,” Russell said. “It’s important the school district stays connected with the community and helps out in ways like this. Helping the community is just as important as getting a solid education.”