The United Way of Ventura County kicked off its third annual “Stuff the Bus” campaign to send children in need back to school with a smile on Monday, July 23, the organization reported in a media release.
The United Way is asking the community to stop by designated locations (see below) throughout Ventura County through Wednesday, Aug. 8 to donate and drop off new school supplies inside big, yellow, pop-up school bus bins. The school supplies will go to benefit children from low-income families living in Ventura County.
Unlike previous years, United Way has made the decision to start the campaign later in the summer to better coincide with the sale of back to school supplies at retail stores. United Way’s goal this year is to provide 500 new backpacks stuffed with school supplies.
Below are the “Stuff the Bus” drop-off locations:
- Camarillo Library, 4101 Las Posas Road
- E.P. Foster Library in Ventura, 651 E. Main St.
- Moorpark Library, 699 Moorpark Avenue
- Newbury Park Library, 2331 Borchard Road
- Oxnard Main Library, 251 South A Street
- Simi Valley Library, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road
- Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 East Janss Road
- Simi Valley Ford car dealership, 2440 1st Street
- Topa Financial Plaza in Oxnard, 300 E Esplanade Dr. and 500 E Esplanade Dr.
- Ventura County Office of Education in Camarillo, 5100 Adolfo Road
CBC Federal Credit Unions:
— 300 Arneill Road, Camarillo
— 2151 E. Gonzales Road, Oxnard
— 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd, Suite A, Thousand Oaks
— Naval Base Ventura County, Building 1336, 23rd & Harris Streets, Port Hueneme
“Stuff the Bus is a great opportunity to show that everyone can make a difference to help advance the common good in the area of education,” said Susan Englund, United Way’s vice president of Community Impact. “This activity is part of United Way’s three pillar approach which also includes income and health.”
The list of needed “Stuff the Bus” school supplies includes: Binders, Book Covers, Calculators College Ruled Notebooks, College Ruled Paper, Colored Pencils, Compasses, Construction Paper, Crayon Boxes, Dictionaries, Dividers, Erasers, Flashcards, Folders, Graph Paper, Glue, Glue Sticks, Highlighters, Index Cards, Markers, Mechanical Pencils, Pencil Boxes/ Pouches, Pencils, Pencil Sharpeners, Pens- Blue/Black/Red, Rulers, Scientific Calculator, Scissors, Wide-Ruled Paper, and Wide- Ruled Notebooks.
In addition to the donation of school supplies, individuals can also make monetary donations to “Stuff the Bus” which will be used to purchase backpacks and additional school supplies. To make a minimum $10 donation, visit www.vcunitedway.org and click the donate button. Individuals can also make a donation of $10 using their cellphone by texting the keyword UWVC to 27722. Standard message and data rates apply. Individuals can mail or drop off a check made payable to United Way of Ventura County to: 1317 Del Norte Road, Suite 100, Camarillo, CA 93010. Please write “Stuff the Bus” on the note line.
There will also be an opportunity for individuals to volunteer to sort and stuff the backpacks with the donated school supplies. Please visit www.VolunteerVenturaCounty.org to view and sign up for this volunteer opportunity.
Nonprofit organizations and agencies wanting to receive a portion of the “Stuff the Bus” backpacks with school supplies will need to submit a Request for Proposal (RFP) available for download on the United Way website at www.vcunitedway.org. Deadline is July 31, 2012.
For more information about “Stuff the Bus,” please contact Susan Englund at 805-485- 6288, ext. 226 or email senglund@vcunitedway.org