'Stuff the Bus' campaign comes to Decatur, Gravette

DECATUR — United Way of Northwest Arkansas is planning a Stuff the Bus Campaign in Decatur and Gravette to ensure students have the school supplies they need to be successful.

Stuff the Bus Campaigns have been held in northwest Arkansas for a number of years, parking school buses outside Walmart stores to be filled with supplies. The program was brought to Decatur for the first time last year and is expanding to include Gravette this year, area coordinator Jerry Cavness said.

Thanks to two $500 donations from McKee Foods, Inc. - one for each town - United Way will have the funds to purchase 100 backpacks for each town to be filled with supplies with the help of donations from Walmart employees and community members.

Tough economic times make it difficult for parents to purchase back to school supplies. More than 50 percent of students in Gravette and 70 percent in Decatur qualify for the federal free and reduced lunches, an indicator often used to measure poverty levels in a school.

“The focus for Decatur and Gravette is to help as many students as possible who need assistance with school supplies,” Cavness wrote in an email.

In Gravette the plan is to get enough school supplies to make sure all of the roughly 125 kindergarten students get off to a good start. If there are additional backpacks, they will be given to children in first grade on up as supplies last.

Donation boxes shaped like school buses will be placed at local businesses and drop-off points from the first week of July until the second week of August.

Those interested in donating can buy items on their local school’s supply list.

“We want to, of course, cover the basic needs like crayons, paper, pencils, glue, glue sticks andmarkers. Baby wipes, Kleenex, Germ X, and paper towels are helpful for the teachers too,” Cavness wrote.

All items donated will be used in the communities in which received.

Decatur drop points will include Decatur State Bank and the General Store.

Gravette drop points will include Arvest Bank, the Bank of Gravett, and Ozarks Community Hospital. There may be additional drop points as more businesses join the effort.

For more information, contact Jerry Cavness at 524-6639 or jcavness@ unitedwaynwa.org.