Stuff The Bus

Stuff The Bus
An Opportunity For You To Send A Kid Back To School With A Smile!

This is the last opportunity for everyone to help “stuff the bus” with supplies and tools for schools. This annual school supply drive ensures that each student attending Rutherford County public schools has all the school supplies needed to succeed. It’s a neighbor to neighbor exchange for caring and giving people. Education is key to giving these kids an opportunity to succeed in life. The more our kids are successful, the more they can give back to the community.

This year there are four locations where you can find that big yellow bus! On Friday, August 3rd thru Sunday, August 5th the bus will be at Wal-Mart in Forest City. You can stuff the bus as well as build-a-backpack for the kids. On Wednesday,  August 8th, the bus will be sponsored by WLOS and Ingles. At Ingles you can catch the bus and give tools for schools. On Saturday, August 11th, the bus will be at the Staples store. More supplies that you can get to stuff the bus. On Saturday, August 18, the bus will travel to Rutherfordton and be in front of Gregory’s Original Restaurant from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. It’s another opportunity for you to give and make sure we put smiles on the faces of our students! This entire Communities In Schools program is just great.

Communities In Schools believes that every child deserves a personal, one-on-one relationship with a caring adult; a safe place to learn and grow; a marketable skill to use upon graduation; a chance to give back to their peers and community; and a heathy start and a healthy future.

In addition to stuffing the bus there are other opportunities for you to participate. The first is “mentoring” in the schools. A mentor provides 30 minutes a week to the children with additional on-going recruitment and training. It’s a caring gift and the mentor gets more out of this than the child. To do this you definitely place yourself in a “feel good” position.

I’ve enjoyed being a “lunch buddy”. A “lunch buddy” is an individual who commits to spending just 45 minutes having lunch with a student at least once a month. From there you can become a mentor. How good is this? You have a lunch at a most reasonable price and make the student feel wanted. You go for this and then you can “thank me”.

Next the “backpack for food program”. How neat is this folks. 68% of our students receive free or reduced meals while at school, so how about the weekend? This program provided the student with a backpack filled with 6 meals to be used over the weekend. Currently this program is serving over 600 students. Just think! No student can do good in school or study on an empty stomach. So help with this program and be rewarded.

We’ve already gone over the “stuff the bus” program. Now you can realize that these combined efforts and with people like yourself helping and getting involved, the student definitely gets a head start. This will give them a healthy future.

Other projects that Communities In Schools is proud to be a part of include The Tanner Award for Excellence in Teaching. This award recognizes local teachers that go above and beyond. Also, Leader of the Pack 5K and Fun Run  which is a pate of the Rutherford County Race Series and the signature event for CIS Rutherford County. It just goes on and on.

If you want to participate and get involved contact Communities in Schools at 828-288-0228 or visit them on line at www.rutherfrodcis.org or “like” Communities in Schools, Rutherford County on Facebook.

Remember, the Communities in Schools motto: “  . . . to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life . . .”

Enough good things cannot be said about this program. Make yourself feel wonderful by volunteering to help.