STUFF THE BUS
A special thank you to our Bronze Sponsor, UnitedHealthcare for helping make this year’s Stuff the Bus drive a complete success!
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For those who donate items, you can be entered into a raffle to win a gift basket filled with J&J products. To enter, email jim.rude@scuw.org your name, home address, and home email address OR if you drop off on August 23rd at the church, you will have a chance to fill out a raffle ticket.
Somerset County United Way coordinates the donation and distribution of new school supplies to students from low-income families. Children on local elementary and middle school’s Free and Reduced Lunch Programs, and agencies throughout Somerset County serving low-income families, receive the supplies to better prepare them for academic success. Items are collected by participating organizations and community members. In 2009, more than 40,300 items were collected and distributed to 39 local elementary and middle schools.
Program Impact
Children who receive supplies through this program have the tools they need to begin the school year ready to learn. For struggling parents, providing the necessary school supplies can be a financial hardship. When their children receive school supplies through this program, parents are better able to utilize their limited financial resources to pay for basic needs such as food, utilities, rent, etc. In addition, children have greater self-esteem when they have the school supplies they need, and the same school supplies as their peers.
To participate in Stuff the Bus 2010, please contact Irene Natale at (908) 253-6511 or irene.natale@scuw.org.
Publicize the program during the summer of 2010. Post information on bulletin boards, your company’s intranet, send voice-mail messages, e-mail messages, etc.
Download a poster that you can use to help let people know about the program. Be creative!
Collect new school supplies. Begin your drive as early as you would like and plan to collect through the week of 8/16/10. Choose a centrally located drop-off site at your organization for donations and publicize your deadline. Please stress that donations must be NEW items only; such as, backpacks, pens, pencils, notebooks, jumbo book covers, glue sticks, crayons, personal hygiene items etc. (School nurses also request clothing items for younger children such as socks, underwear, sweat pants and sweat shirts.)
VOLUNTEERS will be warmly welcomed! If you and/or your family or group would like to help with the coordination of the distribution of the new items during the week of August 23, 2010, please contact Irene Natale at (908) 253-6511 or by e-mail at irene.natale@scuw.org.
COMMUNITY DROP OFF LOCATIONS for STUFF THE BUS school supplies:
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
716 US Highway 206
Hillsborough, NJ 08844
(908) 625-3328
Country Curtains
Rt. 202
Far Hills, NJ 07931
All Peapack Gladstone Banks in SomersetCounty
Somerset County United Way
1011 Rt. 22 West
Bridgewater, NJ 08807