Stuff the Bus returns in 2019, gathering school supplies for Sequim students

By Sequim Gazette Staff • July 17, 2019 1:30 am
Stuff the Bus donations return to local businesses like Sequim Walmart to provide school supplies for in-need students. Sequim Gazette file photo by Erin Hawkins
Stuff the Bus donations return to local businesses like Sequim Walmart to provide school supplies for in-need students. Sequim Gazette file photo by Erin Hawkins

Stuff The Bus, Sequim’s annual donation drive bringing school supplies to local students, has begun.

Organized by the Kiwanis Club of Sequim-Dungeness, this year’s drive sees donation bins in place at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club, Anytime Fitness, Kris Henrikson’s Edward Jones office, JCPenney, KSQM, Around Again, Sequim Community Church and Walmart through Aug. 15.

Donors may place school supplies in the bins or make monetary donations through the Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St., or via their website: bgc-op.org/donate (specify the BTSF).

A general list of supplies needed is attached to each collection bin. Specific school supply lists by grade are available on each school’s webpage (go to www.sequim.k12.wa.us).

School supplies may also be dropped off at the Sequim School District administration office, 503 N. Sequim Ave; the district office is open during the summer, 10 a.m.- 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

Stuff The Bus culminates in the annual event at the Sequim Walmart 2-6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 9. A school bus will be parked on site during the event and a school bus driver will be on hand to answer questions about bus routes and school transportation. Volunteers will hand out fliers with a combined school supply list, as well as information about back-to-school events. Shoppers may choose to purchase items from the supply list to drop in collection bins at the store’s main entrance.

Collected school supplies will be made available to families at the seventh-annual Back to School Fair, scheduled for 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club. The fair brings together a wide range of resources for families to help insure that students have what they need to succeed in school.

Fair organizers are seeking sponsors as well as booth vendors to offer activities, services, and information at the fair. Volunteers are also needed for the day of the event to help set up and facilitate activities (in particular, hair stylists and barbers to give haircuts). To help or for more information, call Janet Gray, Boys & Girls Club Resource Development Director, at 360-683-8095. Sponsorship money goes primarily toward purchasing backpacks and school supplies.

Similar events are planned for Port Angeles; for more about those events, call 360-565-3703.