EVERETT — Shopping carts and bus seats started to fill up with donations this weekend for the 12th annual Stuff a Bus campaign.
The food and toy drive continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday until Dec. 13. Volunteers collect nonperishable food, money and toys outside the doors of the Fred Meyer stores at 12906 Bothell-Everett Highway in Mill Creek and 18805 Highway 2 in Monroe.
Everett Transit employees and Volunteers of America work together on the drive. This year, the Monroe Fred Meyer was added as a second location in hopes of continuing the success they’ve seen at the Mill Creek store.
Less than an hour into the drive Saturday morning, donors were loading items into a shopping cart stationed next to Bus No. 21 at the Mill Creek Fred Meyer. There was a box of Raisin Bran cereal, three cans of whole kernel corn, a bright yellow box of Curious George gummy snacks and a football. Several shoppers chose to make donations by cash or check.
Volunteers passed out small green flyers to people as they headed into the store so they knew what was needed. Diapers, baby formula and new, nonviolent themed gifts, especially for teen boys, are a few key items organizers look for every year. Teens are harder to find gifts for than younger children, so gift cards are a big help, said Katie Prettyman, senior director of volunteer engagement for Volunteers of America Western Washington.
The list includes cereal, crackers, rice, pasta and sauces and canned foods. Among the gift ideas are slippers, gloves, art supplies, sport balls, baby dolls and board games.
Yevonne Park, 15, volunteered Saturday morning with other students from the National Honor Society at Jackson High School. Community service is a requirement for staying in honor society, but she also enjoys helping with food drives throughout the year and decided she wanted to help with a toy drive, too.
She stood near the doors at the Mill Creek Fred Meyer, smiling while she passed out flyers.
“I feel like we’re going to be really successful,” she said. “I know they were really successful last year so hopefully we can go over what they got last year.”
In 2014, volunteers collected roughly $26,000 worth of gifts, Prettyman said. More than 5,700 pounds of food also were donated, according to a news release.
Volunteers have set an annual goal of filling a 35-foot Everett Transit bus.
The Stuff a Bus project appealed to Park because the toys, food and money go to families in Snohomish County.
“It’s heartwarming to have an event that helps people within our reach,” she said.
Shana Livingston, a 22-year-old Western Washington University student, agreed that the power of Stuff a Bus is that it focuses close to home for Snohomish County families. She’s studying human services and interns with Volunteers of America. She helps track information for families who are sponsored by donors for food and gifts during the holidays. Stuff a Bus donations go to families, seniors and adults with disabilities who are not among those sponsored.
“These toys go to those families who don’t have anyone to help them, so it’s a really good cause,” Livingston said. “It’s our community helping each other. And it also helps people see outside of their world and step into other people’s shoes.”
Stuff a Bus is a popular event for volunteers and the shifts at the Mill Creek Fred Meyer are full, Prettyman said. However, more volunteers are needed at the Monroe Fred Meyer for the next two weekend and to help unload and organize donations on Mondays.
To sign up as a volunteer or learn more about Stuff a Bus, go to voaww.org/special-event-groups.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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