The Pete Nance Boys & Girls Club recently hosted its first-ever “Stuff the Bus” campaign, alongside BankSouth in Greensboro.
The school supplies drive took place July 27-28, during which individuals could drop off resources for the nonprofit participants and local students in need of items.
BankSouth additionally donated $1,000 to the cause and presented a check during the second day of donations.
Pete Nance Boys & Girls Club Board Chair Annette Obanion said she initially reached out to the bank to collaborate, as they are a partner of the nonprofit. She said that BankSouth quickly joined the request, and she was therefore able to organize the event in a short time span.
“This event came together in about a week and a half, and we had just finished summer camp at the club; the club is closed down for one week, so this was our week to sit and figure out if we could do a school supply event,” Obanion said. “[So we thought] ‘let’s see if we can make it convenient for the community and let’s see if we can get folks in to help us provide those supplies to the kids at the Boys and Girls Club.”
Obanion said the nonprofit has campaigned for school supplies for several years before the recent event took place. She added that multiple employees at the bank additionally donated supplies during the four-hour campaign.
“It’s the first time we decided to do a ‘Stuff the Bus’ campaign where we actually brought the bus to the community versus asking the community to drop by the club and drop things off,” Obanion said. “Everybody from BankSouth came out and worked with us, and they donated some supplies; We’ve been thrilled that it’s at least gotten some attention from the community.”
Obanion said the benefits will proceed directly to the nonprofit, which will give some of the items to the Greene County School System.
“If they’ve got children and they need school supplies and they’re not getting them, we’ll share with anybody once our kids get their supplies,” Obanion said. “We have about 150 kids on the average daily activity that we see at the club, so it’s a lot of kids that receive support from the city of Greensboro.”
Overall, Obanion said she believes the event had a good turnout, and especially helped the nonprofit gain recognition with the community.
She said she hopes to run the event again for the following school year, and that the community can continue to support the cause as they did this year.
“We know it makes a difference in the community, and that it’s a great opportunity for leadership and for kids to learn how to respect themselves and others; we want to make sure those kids can make it through school and have the things they need to do so,” Obanion said. “The community wants to put out some love to everyone and supply them with what they need to get educated and not have to worry through the school year; so all [the students] have to do is worry about being the best person they can be as kids.”