Pointy pencils, unblemished notebooks and pristine glue sticks were piled high inside bright yellow bins in the church gym.
Outside, a school bus backed up to the gym’s doors.
“This is the last bus, whoop, whoop!” a volunteer called.
On Wednesday, volunteers picked up donated school supplies across Frederick County, loaded them onto Frederick County Public Schools buses and dropped them off at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 199 North Place in Frederick, where they were sorted.
“No student in our system should be without the school supplies they need,” said Ken Oldham, president and CEO of the United Way of Frederick County.
The United Way of Frederick County’s Stuff the Bus drive, in partnership with FCPS, aims to support students in ALICE households. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and refers to households that have working members but are unable to afford basic necessities.
Between July 5 and Wednesday, nearly 60 local businesses and nonprofits across the county collected school supplies in yellow bins. People were also invited to make financial contributions to the United Way to buy supplies.
While the tally of donations was not known Wednesday, Oldham said the stockpile looked “pretty good.” The United Way also received more than $13,000 in direct contributions, he said.
About 125 volunteers helped pick up and sort supplies, according to Erin Lawson, manager of resource development for the United Way.
Last year, Stuff the Bus netted 300 yellow collection bins, plus 35 pallets of school supplies from Walmart, allowing the United Way to serve about 7,000 students, according to Veronica Henry, manager of community impact and grants.
Donations will be distributed Aug. 5 to 9.
Wednesday afternoon, 9-year-old Malaki Dorsey hefted a box almost as big as him in the church gym.
“I just decided to help because some people don’t have stuff for school,” he said.
He was among 13 children and four mentors from the nonprofit I Believe in Me, which focuses on youth development and empowerment.
Mentor Kelly Moran beamed as she watched I Believe in Me youths rush to help unload boxes.
“They love this,” she said.
I Believe in Me teaches its youths to give back through its summer program, according to Moran. They also can benefit from the supplies collected.
“They know what it’s like to maybe not be able to buy school supplies,” Moran said.
She said volunteering for Stuff the Bus makes the children feel like part of the community, and shows they are not alone.
I Believe in Me parent volunteer Kay Brooks sorted composition notebooks.
“This will definitely help,” she said. “It’s not cheap.”
Sisters Olivia, 10, and Jessica, 9, rode the school bus with their mother, Lindsey Bernier, to pick up four bins of school supplies from the Seton Center in Emmitsburg on Wednesday morning. The girls said they have volunteered for Stuff the Bus since they were about 5 years old.
“I’d like for other people to have the same chance as us,” to have school supplies, Jessica said.
At the gym later that afternoon, Olivia and Jessica sorted pencils into packs of 10. They said it was a fun day.
The Rev. Barbara Kershner Daniel said she pictures a child or family behind every box of crayons. For a dozen years, she organized the city of Frederick distribution through the Religious Coalition for Emergency Human Needs. The Rotary Club of Carroll Creek now fills that role.
“We’re really about making sure kids get a great start to the school year,” said Rotary volunteer Amy Benton, who chairs Backpacks for Bright Futures for the club.
Benton said Rotary members will help Frederick students pick out supplies next week. The club raised about $22,000 for school supplies, she said.
Gazing across the stacks of school supplies, Kershner Daniel said the donations looked to be around 2019 levels — before Stuff the Bus was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“People are very generous in the community,” Kershner Daniel said. “It’s a huge need.”
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