The Salvation Army in Cortez is organizing its annual “Stuff the Bus” school supply drive on Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12 at the Cortez Walmart. “Stuff the Bus” will take place ahead of the Osprey Backpack giveaway and the distribution of backpacks and supplies on Saturday, Aug. 2.
This event is being led by the Salvation Army’s new Cortez Service Center Director Arthur Tidwell and aims to distribute over 1,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to support students of all ages in Montezuma County.
“Our community-wide backpack blessing giveaway is really important today,” Tidwell told The Journal. “We all know everything we purchase is going up in price. I watched a news report this morning that for a third grader, just the very basics of supplies will cost $25 to $30. We have many families in our community that have more than one child, and that really adds up in cost. You heard it quoted, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ but I think for our community, ‘It takes an Osprey backpack full of tools to raise a child.’”
The “Stuff the Bus” event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days and seeks donations of items like backpacks, notebooks, paper (wide college-ruled), washable markers, pencils, ballpoint pens, crayons, colored pencils, highlighters, scissors, watercolors, glue sticks, spiral notebooks, marble composition books and folders with brads and pockets, among other school supplies.
Volunteers are also needed to help pack supplies on Tuesday, July 29 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Evangel Assembly of God, 209 West Fifth St., and to distribute backpacks on Aug. 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the same venue.
Preregistrations for a backpack of supplies can be done online at https://bit.ly/Stuffthebus.
Preregistration does not guarantee an Osprey backpack, only a backpack of supplies. Osprey backpacks will be given away in a giveaway, and all Osprey backpacks were donated by Osprey.
Though those who do not preregister for a backpack of supplies are still welcome to request a backpack at the event on Aug. 2, they will only be given out on a first come, first served basis to those who are not preregistered until supplies run out.
For more details or to volunteer, contact Tidwell at (303) 860-5486 or art.tidwell@usw.salvationarmy.org.
