NOT TOO EARLY TO THINK ABOUT SCHOOL...

This morning, at the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Sanford-Springvale, members were "brought up to speed" with respect to a local charity project, named STUFF THE BUS!

The speaker this morning was Wanda Parent, who has been volunteering for Stuff the Bus for the past fifteen years!  This organization collects items which school-aged children might require when they begin school, either late in Agusut or early September.  In the early years, Ms. Parent told members, "back in the beginning, we served about 100 students in the Sanford area.  Now we are service some 4,000 students throughout the southern York County area!"

Beginning with basic support from five local businesses, STUFF THE BUS quickly learned that local children, who may be victims of poverty, really just needed two things: 1) make sure these children are not minimalized or denegrated becuase of their socio-economic situation; and 2) to actually supply the necessities of what the students will require to begin the new school year.

Now, the few weeks prior to the beginning of the school year, Wanda brings a school bus (believe it is donated by Ledgemere Bus Company in Sanford) to the parking lot at Wal-Mart, encouraging people to drop off their donations, which are then taken to a warehouse and categorized and put into the hundreds of backpacks which have also been donated.  

Wanda is always looking for additional volunteers who will help get the backpacks filled and then distributed to the nearly 4000 students in southern York County.  Below is a listing of items which students need.  Most recently, Wanda has extended her collecction to include items for teachers, as well as art supplies and musical instruments!

The members of the Rotary Club will hopefully be able to collect some of the backpacks and/or school supplies to help this very worthy cause.  If anyone is interested in supporting the program, please email me at elias@exitkeyrealestate.com  and I will make arrangements for a drop-off.