Stuff the Bus saw nearly twice as many applicants this year
Staff from Fredericktown schools chat with a Walmart customer about Stuff the Bus, filling the box and back packs for students.
On Saturday, staff from Madison County schools collected hundreds of items from Walmart shoppers to help students begin the school year with back packs fresh and full as part of their annual Stuff the Bus program.
Fredericktown School Social Worker Billie McFadden stood next to a box full of bags that shoppers dropped in with binders, pencils, clean wipes, glue sticks and every other classroom essential. Walmart shoppers looked at a list before going in, and came out with something on it to drop in, she said.
“If they come up and they ask, we have a supply list over there and we just accept anything. So they bring out whatever they want to bring out to us. We don’t ask for anything,” McFadden said.
She said this year saw 173 recipients, up from about just 100 last year. The difference is because they sent out the sign up application online this time around.
McFadden said she sent out the sign-up form a post on their Fredericktown school district facebook page, and did not ask any questions about people who signed. Last year, recipients would pick up a form from the Madison County Health Department.
“There’s no income requirement,” McFadden said. “It’s just, ‘Do you need to sign up for this?’”
Of the 170 sign-ons, about 45-50 were from each school, Elementary, Intermediate, Middle School and High School, McFadden estimated, with some from Marquand.
On Monday, the social workers packed the bags to be distributed to recipients this Thursday at the Back to School Fair at the Kelly R. Burlison Middle School.
McFadden said the planning process for Stuff the Bus usually begins right after the school year ends, in May, with Walmart setting up donation boxes in July near their cash registers to help purchase high priority items.
She said that they keep the leftover bags for students who move out.
“If we have a student moving to a new district, sometimes they don’t hang on to things from the previous school district,” McFadden said. “We set them up with new things, and sometimes when our students leave the school, they’re really apprehensive and nervous.”
The program has been a staple for nearly 13 years, she said, and is important for the dozens of families that need help.
Backpacks full of donations from Walmart shoppers fill the seats in back of the bus to help students start the school year fresh.
“We feel like it’s important for all students to have the opportunity to start the school year off on the right foot with the supplies they need so they’re ready to learn. And families don’t have to worry about getting the supplies right.”
