Stuff the Bus is wrapping up -- help students in need

Summer vacation is wrapping up, and with it, the chance to help students needing school supplies.

If you haven't heard about the "Stuff the Bus" campaign, you can find more information here. In a nutshell, the campaign seeks to give needy children the supplies needed to get them ready for school. You can donate money or supplies at local banks that have the little bus station on the lobby.

And here's another way you can help. Volunteers are needed to sort through supplies and assemble backpacks next week. Teams will be meeting four days: Wed. through Sat. Aug. 2 to 5, at the Monterey County Office of Education, 901 Blanco Cir. Salinas. Sorting teams will meet from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wed. through Friday and stuffing teams will meet from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information, visit the United Way page here.

Stuff the Bus still short of backpacks!

The United Way, the driver of the Stuff the Bus campaign, is reminding community members of the great need there is to help needy children go back to school.

The campaign needs an additional 800 backpacks to meet their goal to provide new, fully stocked backpacks for local students who are homeless and cannot afford the required school supplies. $20 buys a new, fully stuffed backpack.

You can donate online here. 
You can text "StuffBus" to 313131 to donate - $20 buys a fully stuffed backpack.
And to spread the message, share your support of Stuff the Bus on social media and challenge your friends to help. Use #StuffBus.

Helping kids stay in school is the best way we have to promote a peaceful, educated community.  Backpacks will be distributed throughout the county by the homeless liaisons for each school district in partnership with the Monterey County Office of Education.

Bardin Elementary in Salinas has new turf

In addition to welcoming the new school year, students at Bardin Elementary in Salinas welcomed new turf for their soccer field. And they began using it right away.

"It looks great," said Felicia Escobedo, mother of two current students and two who graduated more than a decade ago. "Kids used to play soccer on the asphalt and when they fell their knees were all scraped."

Alisal Union officials held a ceremony to celebrate the new field. Children then kicked the ball around. Alan Garcia, 6, even won a participatory wreath for it.

"We're excited for the new field," Board President Noemi Armenta said.

Stuff the Bus and help Monterey County homeless children with school supplies

There are more than 7,000 students considered homeless in Monterey County, and the yearly "Stuff the Bus" campaign helps collect school supplies to make sure they are ready for classes come August.

The campaign is spearheaded by the Monterey County Office of Education and United Way Monterey County, and it asks community members to donate school supplies or money to buy those supplies for needy children.

Donations of paper, pens, pencils, notebooks and backpacks will be received at any of the school collection "buses" placed in banks, credit unions and other local businesses during the month of July. There's also collection "buses" in most libraries. For a complete list of drop-off sites, click here.

All the collected school supplies will be sorted, and stuffed into backpacks on Aug. 1 at MCOE for distribution during the first week of school.

For the first time, people may make donations via text. Text STB15 to 71777.

And for more information, click here.  You can also volunteer to help stuff the backpacks.

Welcome back!

You've all probably noticed it's been a couple of weeks since I posted anything. Summer doldrums, I suppose.

But things are starting to get in gear in schools, so I'm hoping my inbox will soon be flooded with your photos and events. Gossip and innuendo is always welcome (not sure I'll make it into the blog, but it's always fun to read).

Happy and successful 2014-15!

Back to School Health Fair to take place in Salinas

Senator Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres), a father of four, is partnering with the Alisal Family Resource Center to host the Back to School Health Fair for K-6 students in east Salinas. The event will be a one-stop venue where parents may bring their children to receive medical and dental screenings, eye exams, and Child ID Complete Kits, a comprehensive tool for parents to record a child’s vital identification.

The health fair is a free event and will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Alisal Family Resource Center, 1441 Del Monte Avenue, Salinas.

Senator Cannella’s district staff will hold mobile office hours at the fair and have fact sheets available with information on relevant legislation.

Sponsors of the event include the Alisal Family Resource Center, Monterey County Health Department, Natividad Medical Center, United Way Monterey County, California Medical Association, California Dental Association, California Optometric Association, and Salud Para La Gente.

Stuff the Bus in Monterey County

It's probably too late to donate items to the Stuff the Bus campaign -- pencils, backpacks, etc.

But I'm sure it's not too late to donate money! Or to sign up to be a volunteer!

If it takes a village to raise a child, it surely needs a platoon to sort and stuff backpacks for the more than 5,000 homeless children in Monterey County.

From 12 to 3 p.m. this Thursday, Aug. 1, volunteers will be needed to sort all the items that have been donated at cute buses all over the county. Then, on Saturday, volunteers will be needed again from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to stuff the backpacks.

I helped last year and it was a fun, heart warming activity. You should definitely consider it. Remember, you're helping some of our most vulnerable students.

For more information, visit the United Way website here.

It takes a village (and Fulbright scholars) to stuff back packs

Under cloudy skies and the occasional sprinkle, an army of volunteers helped stuff backpacks Saturday for the "Stuff the Bus" campaign of United Way Monterey County.

What a production. It takes a lot of effort to make sure every backpack has a more-or-less even distribution of supplies: pencils, paper, erasers, markers, notebooks. Because the need is always greater than the available resources, chances are not all the backpacks have the same supplies. At the end, the group ran out of backpacks so the supplies were placed inside recyclable shopping bags.

It's uplifting to see how many in the community care about needy children. Fatima Dias of United Way says that about 1,300 backpacks were stuffed and ready to be delivered today.

Carlos Diaz, coordinator of homeless services for MPUSD, arrived at around noon to pick up the backpacks he'll deliver to students in his district. Last year there were 650 students considered homeless, but chances are not all of them will get a backpack.

And a group of Fulbright international scholars now receiving their training at Monterey Institute of International studies drop by to help. And took tons of pictures.

It's back to school. Volunteer

Donate time, supplies or money to the current efforts of the Boys & Girls Club as they help their members go back to school.

The Clubs (in Seaside and Salinas) will be collecting money, materials, and volunteers from until Sept. 7 so they can in turn help the hundreds of students that fill their halls. They have 58 volunteer positions available and huge needs. For more information, click here.