The United Way of Lebanon County’s (UWLC) first ever Stuff the Bus initiative was not

only a success, but a true testament to the United Way’s mission of Advocate. Give. Volunteer. 

Many community volunteers, businesses and individuals pulled together to collect 700 book bags, 1,000 pounds of school supplies and $2,000 in donations that allowed for the purchase of over 200 additional book bags.

 The road to this success took place in three stages, over a three month period.

ADVOCATE in June.

The idea for Stuff the Bus came from UWLC’s Director of Development and

Communications, Emily Guilliams.

“I became aware of the program from some other United Ways that had done it,” said Guilliams.  “I thought it would be a great initiative for us to do [because] we had become aware that there were a lot of needs out there.”

Planning for the Stuff the Bus initiative began in June.  United Way staff met with Betty Holsopple, coordinator for Quality Early Learning of Lebanon County, to devise a game plan of how school supplies would be distributed.

From there it was an overwhelming advocate response.  UWLC staff members, board members, businesses and volunteers spread the word about the initiative to their friends, families, co-workers, neighbors and countless others.

Volunteers came together and helped to decorate donation boxes.  UWLC sent Stuff the Bus coloring pages to child care providers, such as Head Start, YMCA, Phoenix Youth Center and the Salvation Army’s Back to School Program, for children to color.  Volunteers then wrapped boxes and decorated these boxes with instructions and the coloring pages.

“Coloring in the buses was a great way for the youngest members of our community to help out,” said Romeeka Gayhart, UWLC’s 2008-2009 AmeriCorps*VISTA member.  “It might not sound like much, but being able to see the kids’ work is a great reminder of the creativity and enthusiasm that our children have. Nurturing that growth is what a program like Stuff the Bus is all about.”

GIVE in July.

By July, collections could begin.  UWLC collected any form of school supply donations,

such as book bags, pencils, paper, notebooks, crayons, colored pencils, rulers, scissors

and everything in between.

Individuals dropped off supplies to the UWLC office or volunteers went to local businesses

and picked up supplies.

“It was a big response from businesses wanting to do collections,” said Gayhart.

Some companies held large drives, while others simply had boxes placed at their locations

for employees to donate supplies. 

The UWLC held its own drive thanks to the help of MA Brightbill Body Works,

with a special thanks to Michael Ingram and Fred Horner.  MA Brightbill Body Works

donated a school bus that the company decorated and provided two volunteer drivers.  This bus was driven around to different locations every day for two weeks to collect supplies.    Community volunteers and board members of UWLC supported this collection drive by  helping staff the bus at the various locations.

“I thought [the bus] was significant for publicity purposes … it was something unique that was instrumental in getting people’s attention,” said Guilliams.

The Hershey Company, with the help of Ron Stoehler, rented its own bus and held a huge drive to support the project. 

Bayer Healthcare also held a large drive, thanks to Cindy Nein and Sharon Stoppi.

All supplies were then taken to Lebanon County Christian Ministries (LCCM), which kindly donated its conference room as a storage space.  Also, LCCM allowed UWLC staff and volunteers to come to its location to sort supplies whenever necessary.

VOLUNTEER in August.

Although volunteers were crucial throughout every step of the process, no time was more important than in August when all supplies needed to be sorted and distributed.

Volunteers from the community responded to our call for help.  Individuals from the community, volunteers and staff from various agencies (Quest, PROBE, Compeer), UWLC board members and staff all gave a helping hand in packing back packs.

All collected items were then distributed, by UWLC staff and volunteers, to the following agencies:

• Four home care providers,

• Philhaven,

• YMCA’s Childcare Center

• Catholic Charities,

• Deer Lake Apartments,

• Mother’s in the Work Ready program at Community Action Partnership,

• Head Start,

• Salvation Army’s Back-to-School event,

• Youth Advocate kids and

• Nine area schools in the County.

With the success of this year’s Stuff the Bus initiative, planning is already underway for next year’s initiative.  After such a tremendous response from the community, UWLC looks forward to seeing even more individuals and businesses participate in helping put a smile on the more than 800 children’s faces when they receive their brand new school supplies!

Below is a list of thank yous to all who participated in this year’s initiative.  This list is not all inclusive; we apologize for any businesses, agencies or organizations we missed.  We appreciate everyone’s help and contributions!

The following businesses were among the contributors:

• Bayer HealthCare,

• Blue Scope Buildings North America,

• Brentwood,

• Cornwall Manor,

• Crayola,

• First National Bank of Fredericksburg,

• Fulton Bank,

• Hershey Entertainment & Resorts,

• Kapp Advertising,

• Lebanon Federal Credit Union,

• Lebanon Valley Mall,

• Marsulex,

• Murry’s,

• New Penn Motor Express,

• Northwest Savings Bank,

• Philhaven,

• Reilly, Wolfson, Sheffey, Schrum & Lundberg, LLP,

• REM Auto,

• Sherwin Williams,

• Sunset,

• Swift Trucking,

• Temp Force,

• The Hershey Company,

• TJ Maxx,

• Valspar,

• WalMart,

• White’s Harley-Davidson/Buell,

• Woodland Contractors and

• Dr. Robert G. Wertz Office.

Second, the UWLC would like to thank the following churches for their help and support:

• Annville United Methodist Church,

• Cornerstone Church,

• Hill Lutheran Church,

• Richland Church of the Brethren,

• River of Life Church and

• Trinity Methodist Church.

Third, the following agencies, organizations and schools contributed and assisted with the project:

• Annville Free Library,

• Arc of Dauphin & Lebanon Counties,

• Cedar Crest Cheerleaders

• Compeer,

• Community Action Partnership,

• Domestic Violence Intervention,

• Head Start,

• Hispanic Outreach,

• IU 13,

• Lebanon Community Libraries,

• Lebanon Family Health Services,

• Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce,

• Lebanon Valley College,

• Matthews Public Library,

• MidPenn Legal Services,

• Myerstown Community Library,

• Palmyra Community Library,

• Phoenix Youth Center,

• PROBE,

• QUEST, Inc.,

• Richland Community Library,

• R.S.V.P.,

• Salvation Army,

• SARCC,

• YMCA,

• YMCA Child Care and

• Youth Advocate Programs.

Last, but not least, UWLC would like to thank the following government organizations:

• The City of Lebanon,

• Rep. Mauree Gingrich’s Office and

• Rep. Rosemarie Swanger’s Office.