For Immediate Release – August 18, 2025
Contact: Jessica Arneson, Community Engagement Coordinator, 715-421-0390.
WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI – Thanks to hundreds of donors and volunteers, 750 local students will begin the academic year with essential school supplies provided through Stuff the Bus/Stuff the Desk events. On Thursday, August 7th, community members donated over 10,000 school supplies at the Stuff the Bus event during Lunch by the River, and on Friday, August 15th and Saturday, August 16th, the items were distributed to students who registered to receive supplies.
2025 Statistics:
• Of the students served, 95% qualified for free or reduced school meals.
• 91 volunteers lent a hand during collection, set up, pre-packing, and distribution.
• A sample of some of the items collected during Stuff the Bus includes 365 backpacks, 535 boxes of colored pencils, 2,078 pens, 1,973 folders, 1,538 glue sticks, 1,404 notebooks, 430 scissors, 99 rulers, and 397 boxes of markers.
The Stuff the Bus Committee would like to thank everyone who helped to make this possible: the volunteers, the organizations who held school supply drives, and everyone who donated school supplies and/or monetary donations. We’d also like to thank our local media who helped to promote these events. Thanks to everyone working together, our students have school supplies to help them start the school year off on the right track. Thank you!
.jpg)
Volunteers filled backpacks for the Stuff the Desk participants.
About the Stuff the Bus/Stuff the Desk Committee
Stuff the Bus is a collaborative effort of several local non-profit, government and school agencies. Every year, the Stuff the Bus/Stuff the Desk Committee asks the community to stuff a school bus with donations of school supplies. The event is held during Lunch by the River. Later, the donated school supplies are distributed to local students in need during the Stuff the Desk event. All families who are in financial need are eligible.