By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Donations of backpacks and school supplies will be collected during a Stuff the Bus event this Friday to help give local students a good start to a new school year.

It’s part of the Livingston Educational Service Agency’s 20th annual Backpacks for Kids project that provides basic supplies and backpacks at no cost to students throughout the county whose families might be experiencing financial difficulties. Various community partners and businesses have been collecting donations but to give the drive a boost before the actual distribution event, a Stuff the Bus event will be held this Friday.

Great Start Coordinator Robin Schutz tells WHMI a Livingston ESA Bus will be out at the Howell Wal-Mart from 10am to 2pm and families shopping for school supplies are encouraged to pick up an extra set of pencils, pack of paper, or a backpack as a contribution to the campaign.

The goal is to again distribute 1,000 backpacks to students in preschool through 12th grade. In addition to the Stuff the Bus event, donations can be dropped off Monday through Thursday at the Livingston ESA Education Center on West Grand River in Howell. That’s where the distribution event will take place next Thursday, August 12th. It will operate as a drive-thru event and there are different time slots for the five local school districts.

More information is available in the attached press release.