STUFF THAT BUS • Tax-Free Giving
August 07, 2018
United Way Holds Annual Stuff The Bus School Supply Drive
By DEREK BLYER
Daily News-Record 8/4/18
HARRISONBURG — Most people think of stuffing around the fall, when the festive holiday season begins.
For Laura Toni-Holsinger, executive director for the United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, the stuffing she enjoys most is savored each August, when the nonprofit holds its back-to- school supply and fundraising drive.
Coinciding with Virginia’s Tax-Free Holiday weekend, Stuff the Bus kicked off Friday and runs through 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The three-day event helps provide school supplies and clothes for students in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The items will be provided to students before the fall semester begins in a few weeks.
Eighteen-wheelers are parked at Walmart locations in Harrisonburg and Rockingham
County to accept donations.
Tashfla Hasan, coordinator of community impact with United Way, estimated that about 200 people had donated at the Walmart on Burgess Road as of 1:30 p.m. Friday, despite the weather.
“Just seeing the momentum in the community for this event and their willingness to give is amazing,” Hasan said.
Hasan was one of about 300 United Way staff and volunteers who will coordinate the three-day event, she said.
Toni-Holsinger said the goal for this year’s campaign is to raise $145,000 in cash and supplies, up from last year’s goal of $143,000.
“We’re always hoping to exceed the previous year’s expectations,” she said.
Toni-Holsinger said many local businesses also collected clothing and school supplies over the summer to donate to the effort. “We have a ton of supplies already in our office that we are going to take this week,” Toni-Holsinger said. “It’s nice that people volunteer to do this ahead of time. ”Carol Fleming, assistant dean of James Madison University’s Outreach and Engagement Center and a United Way board member, said the center has partnered with the nonprofit on the event, which she has gotten her family involved with also.
“When we first started partnering with the United Way, my daughter [Lily]
enjoyed the event so much that she now asks me ‘Are we going to do the Stuff the Bus event?’ every year,” Fleming said.
Support also comes also from teachers who volunteer during Stuff the Bus.
“To have teachers and school staff out here is huge, because they see the need firsthand and know the families,” Toni- Holsinger said. “It’s a neat connection point.”
Emily Akiyama (right) hands a bag of donated school supplies to Aric Berg during the annual United Way Stuff the Bus drive on Friday outside of the Walmart on Burgess Road.
Volunteers collect donated school supplies for United Way’s Stuff the Bus drive on Friday at the Walmart off Burgess Road.
By DEREK BLYER
Daily News-Record 8/4/18
HARRISONBURG — Most people think of stuffing around the fall, when the festive holiday season begins.
For Laura Toni-Holsinger, executive director for the United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, the stuffing she enjoys most is savored each August, when the nonprofit holds its back-to- school supply and fundraising drive.
Coinciding with Virginia’s Tax-Free Holiday weekend, Stuff the Bus kicked off Friday and runs through 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The three-day event helps provide school supplies and clothes for students in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The items will be provided to students before the fall semester begins in a few weeks.
Eighteen-wheelers are parked at Walmart locations in Harrisonburg and Rockingham
County to accept donations.
Tashfla Hasan, coordinator of community impact with United Way, estimated that about 200 people had donated at the Walmart on Burgess Road as of 1:30 p.m. Friday, despite the weather.
“Just seeing the momentum in the community for this event and their willingness to give is amazing,” Hasan said.
Hasan was one of about 300 United Way staff and volunteers who will coordinate the three-day event, she said.
Toni-Holsinger said the goal for this year’s campaign is to raise $145,000 in cash and supplies, up from last year’s goal of $143,000.
“We’re always hoping to exceed the previous year’s expectations,” she said.
Toni-Holsinger said many local businesses also collected clothing and school supplies over the summer to donate to the effort. “We have a ton of supplies already in our office that we are going to take this week,” Toni-Holsinger said. “It’s nice that people volunteer to do this ahead of time. ”Carol Fleming, assistant dean of James Madison University’s Outreach and Engagement Center and a United Way board member, said the center has partnered with the nonprofit on the event, which she has gotten her family involved with also.
“When we first started partnering with the United Way, my daughter [Lily]
enjoyed the event so much that she now asks me ‘Are we going to do the Stuff the Bus event?’ every year,” Fleming said.
Support also comes also from teachers who volunteer during Stuff the Bus.
“To have teachers and school staff out here is huge, because they see the need firsthand and know the families,” Toni- Holsinger said. “It’s a neat connection point.”
Emily Akiyama (right) hands a bag of donated school supplies to Aric Berg during the annual United Way Stuff the Bus drive on Friday outside of the Walmart on Burgess Road.
Volunteers collect donated school supplies for United Way’s Stuff the Bus drive on Friday at the Walmart off Burgess Road.
