Carts, bags - but no buses - stuffed with school supplies during weekend event

July 22, 2019

No child left behind, or every child succeeds – either way, they need school supplies.

Communities Connected for Kids, in partnership with the United Way of St. Lucie County and more than 100 volunteers spent Saturday making sure they have those supplies when they return to school next month.
Volunteers collected close to 5,000 school supplies and $1,574, during the 14th annual Stuff the Bus event, located at all St. Lucie County Wal-Mart stores.

Saturday’s collection represented a more than 30 percent increase from the previous year, continuing an overall tradition of expansion.
In fact, volunteers have collected more than 75,000 school supplies since the project began in 2005. At the time, event coordinators parked school buses at each Wal-Mart, and shoppers were encouraged to load the vehicles with donations.

Carts and tents replaced buses in recent years to make the donation process easier for shoppers and volunteers.

Communities Connected for Kids, which receives supplies for children in foster care from the partnership, led the St. Lucie West and Port St. Lucie/U.S.1 sites during this year’s event.
"We're really proud of our contribution," said CCKids Community Relations Director Christina Kaiser, whose U.S.1 site collected more than $380 from Saturday’s six-hour event.

"We've been a part of the project from the beginning, and it's something we look forward to each year."
Stuff the Bus is part of the United Way’s Tools for Schools St. Lucie, a community initiative that helps keep local classrooms full of supplies year round. CCKids, which manages the child-welfare system of care in Okeechobee and the Treasure Coast, is part of that initiative and serves on the Tools for Schools Committee.

Pictured top right are students from Jensen Beach High School, Brynn Foster, Abby Kaiser, Makayla Boyle and Tyler Favier; and, bottom left, CCKids foster mom Kandace West and her daughter, Hailey.