Bloomingdale Kiwanian Helps ‘Stuff The Bus’ With School Supplies For Children In Need

A withering early-morning sun was already baking the Kmart parking lot but Bloomingdale East resident Gena Schaffer was all smiles and handshakes as she accepted donations for the club’s “Stuff The Bus” school supply drive.  

A club devoted to children’s causes, Kiwanians used Hillsborough County school buses Aug. 19 to collect supplies for students who might start school this week without a full backpack. The Greater Brandon Kiwanis Club hopes to help 2,500 local students.

Those who couldn't make the “Stuff the Bus” event can still drop off school supplies near the concierge desk at Westfield Brandon mall, 459 Brandon Town Center Drive, until Sept. 12.

“It’s a tough economy today and there’s a real need out there,” said Schaffer, president of the Greater Brandon Kiwanis Club.

Schaffer knows the dire situation students and teachers are facing in schools well; her daughter is a teacher in Seminole County.

“My daughter tells me about that need, I really feel her agony. The teachers are under such pressure to see these children educated and they need help. The least we can do as a community is help supply the materials to help the student’s succeed. And the community has stepped up. We may be collecting the materials but it’s the community that has contributed the supplies. They entire community really deserves our thanks.”

The school-supply drive began four years ago with the Brandon club. It now includes Kiwanis clubs from Tampa, Northwest Hillsborough and the Temple Terrace area.

“The schools have had such serious budget cuts in the last few years that they need the community to support the students,” said Dustie Amatangelo, a former president of the Greater Brandon Kiwanis Club who coordinated the drive.

Once every pen, pencil and eraser is counted, they are farmed out to schools in the area where they were collected. The administrators at those schools have the supplies on hand for any child that needs them.

For Kiwanis member Greg Zimmer of Riverview, the drive is just an extension of the club’s mission to help children.

“It’s a simple way we can give back and a great opportunity to help children who just need a little help with the proper school supplies. How is a child to succeed in school without the right supplies?”

For more information on the drive, call Amatangelo at 813-294-0645 or e-mail adustie@yahoo.com.

Needed School Supplies

Copy paper

Composition books

Notebook paper (wide and college)

Back Packs, large and small

No. 2 pencils

Spiral notebooks (single subject)

Pocket folders (with and without clasps)

Crayons (16 pack)

Markers (8 pack)

Colored pencils

Pens

Rulers

Scissors (blunt and regular)

Glue (regular and stick)

Hand sanitizer