“Stuff The Bus” Campaign, A Great Success!

The first annual “Stuff the Bus” campaign is complete, and thanks to the community and our partners, it was a rousing success. “Stuff the Bus” was a transformation of “SchoolTime Wishes”, which had previously been held with our corporate partners. We moved to a community- wide event, to go along with our continued corporate program, in order to raise awareness of the critical need for school supplies for children in Monmouth County. So far, we have collected over 2,000 backpacks and over 9,000 school supplies.

Backpacks filled with school supplies were distributed to students attending schools that were identified as high-risk by our Education Subcommittee, as part of our Community Impact Agenda. These high-risk areas were identified as having a combination of lower academic achievement and higher child poverty rates. Remaining backpacks and supplies were distributed to partner agencies throughout Monmouth County.

“Stuff the Bus” was sponsored by J.F. Kiely Construction Co. and had community partners in First Student Group, Inc., who donated a big yellow school bus to be placed at each.

“Stuff the Bus” location. United Way staff was joined by community volunteers at each location, including Kmart in Wall Township, Target stores in Manalapan and Middletown, and ShopRite in Neptune. Other partners included WRAT radio, Wall Township PBA and NJ American Water.

Thank you to all partners, more than two dozen volunteers of all ages and all the shoppers who generously donated backpacks, crayons, pens, pencils, notebooks and all the other items to ensure children were ready for school.