OSWEGO, NY – Students who need school supplies when they head back to classes next month will find a bus load of donations, thanks to the United Way.
In an effort to ensure every child is prepared for school, the United Way of Greater Oswego County held its annual Success By 6 “Stuff a Bus†campaign at different bus locations around the county.
The buses rolled up to the Kingsford Park Elementary School in Oswego to be unloaded.
No matter where they came from, they all looked the same. The seats were jam-packed with large cardboard boxes instead of school children. The boxes, many of the overflowing with supplies, contained everything from pencils and notebooks to globes and calculators.
“We had a little bit of trouble this morning. But now everything has worked out very well,” said Ali McGrath, program coordinator for the United Way.
The response in 2009 was one of the largest in the program’s history.
“I think this is one of our better tears,” McGrath said as she and dozens of volunteers unloaded the buses and organized the supplies. “I’ll have to wait until everything is counted to be sure. But it looks like we have an awful lot of supplies coming in.”
After all the boxes were brought into the elementary school, volunteers began the arduous task of separating and sorting all of the donations.
The donations were divided into nine lots and then each of locals took their one-ninth of the collected items back to their district.
Now, representatives from each school district’s teachers’ association will distribute the supplies on the following dates:
APW – Aug. 18, 1 – 4 p.m. at the Altmar Elementary School and Parish Elementary School.
Central Square – Aug. 24, 9 –11 a.m. at the Central Square Education Office.
Fulton – Aug. 17, 9 – 11 a.m. at Fairgrieve Elementary School.
Hannibal – Aug. 30, 4 – 6 p.m. at the Hannibal High School.
Oswego – Aug. 18, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Kingsford Elementary School Cafeteria.
Pulaski – Aug. 17, 10 a.m. – noon at the Pulaski Early Learning Center.
Sandy Creek – Aug. 19, 6 – 8 p.m. at the Sandy Creek District Board Room.
Phoenix – Aug. 18, 9 a.m. – noon at Maroun Elementary School.
Mexico – Aug. 17, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. in the Mexico High School Cafeteria.
Families are urged to attend the distribution in their school district only.
Supplies not distributed on the above dates will be made available to teachers to give to students in their classes who are not able to purchase the supplies they need. Teachers will assist and guide the children and to make sure that they get the supplies they really need.
The program benefits more than 1,000 students in all nine of the school districts in Oswego County, McGrath added.
To help ensure all students who need supplies get them, Chris and Rich Burritt of Burritt Motors in Oswego stopped down to the bus at the Staples and made a $700 donation, which was converted into several boxes of school supplies.
For more information on the “Stuff-A-Bus†campaign, call 593-1900.
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