Springfield, MA (07/31/24) – A strong act of kindness was displayed once again by the western Massachusetts community. School supplies of all kinds were brought into the nonprofit’s downtown Springfield office to help give needy K-12 students what they need before the next academic year begins. It was all part of the 20th annual ‘Stuff the Bus’ campaign.
“It’s been awesome to see the community support. Big thank you to our drop-off location partners, such as yourself Western Mass News, and our community donors. ‘Stuff the Bus’ wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of you guys, so thank you,” said Jessica Prokop, chief development officers with United Way of Pioneer Valley.
A wide range of supplies from pens to pencils to notebooks to lunchboxes are now in United Way’s offices. Prokop told Western Mass News that there were at least 600 backpacks filled during last year’s campaign. This year, it’s going to be more than that.
“I think our goal was to have 700 backpacks filled and we’re definitely going to do that…so awesome,” Prokop noted.
It would not be possible without help from you, the viewers, and some of our colleagues at the station throughout the last two weeks. Loads of supplies from pencil boxes to markers to crayons were collected, along bags, rulers, glue sticks, binders, and notebooks. It’s everything that’s needed for the school year and to make sure that kids in need have what they need.
“It’s so wonderful. It’s even more heartwarming once our volunteers come and actually stuff the backpacks and get them ready to go and then get them up onto the truck,” Prokop added.
All of the stuffed backpacks will be dropped off for kids in Hampden County, South Hadley, and Granby on August 22.
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