As the back-to-school season begins, many students and families eagerly prepare for the upcoming academic year. However, for some, the burden of acquiring essential school supplies can pose a significant challenge. MBK teamed up with United Way of Pioneer Valley to help "Stuff the Bus" and bring school supplies to students who are homeless or in need.

Stuff the Bus aims to alleviate the financial strain on families by ensuring that every student has access to the resources they need to succeed in their studies. The event showcases the remarkable commitment and dedication of the community to supporting education and the future success of students.

Participating for a fourth year, team MBK collected unopened school supplies led by champions Partner, Matt Nash and Supervisor, Chris Soderberg. A table of physical donations were made by the team, and a total of $500 was collected, which was strategically allocated to purchase 350 items from Target.

This year United Way of Pioneer Valley set a donation goal of stuffing 700 backpacks for elementary students. As of August 8^th, they surpassed this goal and were approaching a total of 900 backpacks. In addition to donations for elementary students, the firm expanded the drive to include donations for teachers’ classroom supplies. Donations of items to the United Way of Pioneer Valley included: backpacks, notebooks, crayons, glue sticks, pencils, pens, erasers, pencil sharpeners, rulers, pencil boxes and cases, loose leaf paper, composition books, highlighters, index cards, post-it-notes, paper towels, cleaning supplies, tissues, etc.

Chris delivered the collected school supplies to the United Way of Pioneer Valley on August 16^th which was later distributed to Hampden County, South Hadley, and Granby schools.

 To learn more about United Way of Pioneer Valley Stuff the Bus, visit their website: https://www.uwpv.org/stuff-the-bus.