Owensboro ‘Stuff the Bus’ Event to Provide Free School Supplies for Kids in Need

Once all the Fourth of July stuff is gone from store shelves, we're all thrown into a pseudo-time machine with the usually immediate appearance of school supplies.

Seriously, when stores put out seasonal merchandise months ahead of the holiday, it makes time feel like it's sped up. But when I was a kid, I didn't notice and REALLY looked forward to back-to-school season.

We'd get new supplies and new clothes every year. My top priority was COLLEGE RULE notebooks. I hate wide rule, which makes sense for someone who loves to maximize space. And mechanical pencils. I love them. But we always had to use those hexagon-shaped wooden pencils that created the massive writer's callous I have on my middle finger to this day.

Of course, in 2022, there are SO many more requirements, and it just seems fitting that you'd need a BUS to collect them all.

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'STUFF THE BUS' IS BACK

I'm not sure if that was the seed of thought for the annual "Stuff the Bus" event, but it doesn't matter. When folks start bringing school supplies to buses located at the two Owensboro Walmart stores--on Highway 54 and on South Frederica Street--they'll be making a lot of parents and children sleep easier knowing they'll have the equipment they need for the coming year--equipment they might not have otherwise had because of expense.

There will be lists of the most needed items when you get to the buses, but anything for school will be welcome, including--as the sign says--monetary donations.

When I was a kid, a lunch box was part of the school supply list and I made sure Spider-man was on mine. Of course, I wouldn't use it all the time; back then, our principal at Masonville Elementary, Mr. Markham, chose the menus himself. And the lunches were always good, even IF I still don't know what kind of jelly that was on the peanut butter sandwiches.

HOW OFTEN DO KIDS REUSE SCHOOL SUPPLIES YEAR OVER YEAR?

Anyway, I used that lunch box over and over again, and it made me wonder how many school-related items kids hang onto, nowadays, until they are just about shot.

That's kind of what I thought, actually, but then there was this response, which, I'm sure, does not describe a unique scenario.

Now, when I asked about reusing supplies year over year, I was thinking about parents, but I got THESE replies from a couple of teachers:

If there are supplies that can go the distance, that's great. But on July 29th, both Owensboro Public Schools and Daviess County Public Schools will be looking for a couple of buses STUFFED with brand new supplies that will thrill the kids who will receive them.