United Way of Central Kansas Stuff the Bus wish list:
1. Blankets, Stuffed Animals
2. Office supplies: copy paper, pens, tape, folders and binders, envelopes, notebooks, highlighters, white-out, legal pads, staples and paper clips, Label tape machine labels
3. Household items: paper towels, toilet paper, trash bags, facial tissue, etc. laundry soap, cleaning supplies, sponges, comet, etc.
4. Art/craft supplies: crayons, markers, construction paper, glue, child and adult scissors, glitter, acrylic paint, watercolors, poster board, stickers, Disposable dining ware: cups, paper or Styrofoam plates, paper napkins
5. Toys: infant/toddler toys, preschool and school-age toys/games
6. Baby supplies: diapers, wipes
7. Travel size toiletries: soap, deodorant, cotton swabs, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, etc.
8. New hygiene items: brushes, combs, toothbrushes
9. Non-perishable snacks: drink boxes/juice packs, cracker packs, goldfish, fruit snacks
10. Regular ground coffee
11. Roller pads (for paint rollers), painters tape, brooms, dustpans, gardening gloves, canvas drop cloths., new home building supplies
12. Non perishable food and boys teen clothing
13. Skeins of yarn, regular and baby yarn-all colors
The United Way of Central Kansas’ annual Stuff the Bus drive is set for Aug. 19, and the need for this effort is increasingly important, said UWCK Executive Director Julie Bugner Smith.
“The premise of Stuff the Bus is to load a school bus with items our 19 member agencies need to serve the community,” she said. Volunteers will have a school bus at Wal-Mart, 3503 10th St., and at Dillons, 4107 10th St., from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on that Wednesday. The United Way, partnering with USD 428, wants the community to provide the much needed supplies.
The Ellinwood event will be at the Ellinwood Community Library, but donations will also be taken at Sunflower Bank as well. Larned’s Stuff the Bus will be later in the month of August.
“The agencies that UWCK serves rely on these contributions to stretch their already tight budgets,” Smith said. The United Way community partners will be volunteering at Wal-mart taking collections and Dillons staff will be at volunteering their time at Dillons.
UWCK Board Member Dianne Call is instrumental in putting together this event in Great Bend and organizing the volunteers and the items received as well as the distribution, Smith said. “She is a tremendous asset to United Way and with so much happening in August, she is a god-send taking on this project.”
Call is helped out by Kay Wilbur, Board members Becca Maxwell and Ronda Sjogren in Ellinwood, and Board member Tama Hanson in Larned.
