CCISD shifts gears for Stuff the Bus 2021

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Independent School District held its 7th annual Stuff the Bus school supply drive Friday at the Administration Building on Main Street. 

Traditionally held at the Copperas Cove Walmart in years past, the event was cancelled this year by the Walmart Corporation. 

In a statement, Walmart said, “Due to the rising cases of COVID in Texas and out of an abundance of caution, a decision was made to cancel the Stuff the Bus event in Copperas Cove. It was a difficult decision as the event is a long-standing event that the store enjoys hosting every year.  In place of the event, there will be donation bins at the front of the store so customers can drop off much needed school supplies to help local students.”

With the cancellation by Walmart, the school district was left needing to find an alternate location. 

CCISD Communications Director Wendy Sledd shared that local businesses like First National Bank offered their parking lots to the district, but ultimately, the decision was made to hold the event in the parking lot of the District’s Training Facility on Main Street as a drive-through event. 

“I think one of the surprising but very gratifying things that occurred with the location change was that when we did have to change the location originally, we had many businesses reach out to us and say, ‘Hey, you can park a bus at my business. I’ll fill that bus for you,’” Sledd said. “So, we were so excited to have that kind of support, and many said, ‘I’ve already collected all these supplies. What am I supposed to do with them?’, and so we decided to have the event here in our parking lot where they could go ahead and bring those supplies over.”

The Copperas Cove Walmart still provided CCISD with $1,000 worth of school supplies and a check for $1,000 to purchase additional school supplies. Sledd said that the district used that money to also purchase items that are overlooked or not on the supply list like boys’ and girls’ underwear and paper plates and Dixie cups for students at Mae Stevens Early Learning Center, as well as sanitizing wipes, headphones, and more.

The Mt. Sinai No. Holy Royal Arch of the Masonic Order provided a check for $500, and the Carlson Law Firm provided a check for $1,000 as well. 

Local businesses that provided a donation of school supplies include Nonpareil Barbershop, which provided two large moving U-HAUL moving boxes full of supplies and will continue to collect supplies through August 18; GymKix, which filled the GymKix bus with supplies to drop off and will also continue to collect supplies through August 18; the Bookstore Barbershop, which will also hold a collection drive on Wednesday; the Miss Five Hills Scholarship Program; Southern Hills Chiropractic; Speedy Self Storage; the Jno G. Lewis Masonic Lodge #622; PenFed Credit Union; and CCISD employees from clerical staff to bus drivers. 

Bush’s Chicken provided lunch for the volunteers. 

Sledd estimated that approximately $10,000 worth of school supplies was raised this year. 

Stuff the Bus was started in partnership with the Copperas Cove Walmart and Star Group-Veterans Helping Veterans. In its first year, the event raised approximately $20,000. In its first four years, the event brought in a total of $100,000 worth of school supplies. In 2019, before COVID, the event raised as much as $38,000. 

“When you consider we only have a population in Copperas Cove of 34,000 people, that’s more than $1 a head so that just demonstrates how generous the Copperas Cove community is and how much they care about our kids, and we are so grateful for that,” Sledd said. “One thing I would ask folks to remember is by January, all the supplies we collect every year at Stuff the Bus are depleted. Parents have just come off of Christmas and things like that, so we need supplies again in January so when you think about back to school, think about it twice a year, August and January.”

CCISD is projected to have just over 8,300 students enrolled this year, according to Sledd. Nearly 70 percent of Copperas Cove ISD students qualify for the free and reduced meal program. 

The supplies collected Friday have been sorted already and were distributed to parent liaisons or Communities in Schools representatives who will make sure the supplies go to students who need them the most. Parents will need to contact the CIS representative for their student’s campus to obtain these supplies, and they will also need to qualify for the Free and Reduced Lunch program. 

For those looking to donate supplies to the school district, the list of school supplies can be found at https://www.ccisd.com/147655_2. Those supplies can be dropped off at the front office of any campus or at the Administration Office at 408 S. Main Street.