'Stuff a Bus' project raises more than $5,000 for Santa's subs in Cache Valley

By Katie Gildea

December 16, 2004 | At this time each year, kids all over the world sit making Christmas lists for Jolly Old Saint Nicholas, hoping they had been a "good kid" all year so they could get their Christmas wishes. These children sit with their siblings making lists from the Christmas catalogs from JC Penney and various toy stores; picking out their secret wishes.

Well, maybe not everyone did this but that was me 10 years ago. The day after Thanksgiving I was always sitting outside by the mailbox waiting to get the first peek at the Christmas catalogs. It was always important to get the catalog first, before my four sisters had a chance to pick what I wanted. Looking back on my past 21 Christmas', I have only fond memories of spending time with my family, while giving and receiving Christmas gifts for being a "good girl" all year. However, there are many here in Cache Valley this holiday season that do not have that same privilege.

Until now.

Utah State University's Aggie Shuttle, 94.5 VFX, Logan LTD, Associated Students of Utah State University and Utah State Ambassadors have teamed up for the second annual "Stuff a Bus for Sub for Santa."

ASUSU works right alongside the Val R. Christensen Service Center at Utah State University. The mission of the Service Center, "is to prepare students to make lifelong contributions through service, to provide students with the opportunity to serve, and to foster positive attitudes, personal growth, and change, through service of the community and environment."

Six years ago, LTD manager, Ron Bushman, approached Mary Ann Anderson, the Sub for Santa director, about the idea. "It has been one of the most wonderful things to have happen to us," Anderson said. It took the Aggie Shuttle program roughly a year to get the project started. Bushman stated, "Alden Erickson (Aggie Shuttle supervisor) contacted me and got us really motivated and excited to help out."

Melanie Hill, a sophomore business major said, "I like how everyone is working together to help people out during the holidays. I ride the shuttle every day up to campus, and I think it is exciting that we get to help."

Erickson said, "Last year it took about 15 minutes for 12 to 15 people to unload two buses. Now (Associated Students of USU) is involved, and it is more of a student activity."

Last year "Stuff a Bus" was able to give Christmas to 600 children in Cache Valley. "I can't think of anything sadder than a kid waking up Christmas morning with no presents. It's a sad thing," stated Erickson.

Cache Valley isn't the only community to get join forces to make Christmas special for other people. Various church organizations, TV stations and universities nationwide have begun similar projects to help those in need. WLTX-TV in Columbia, SC, urged those in the area to participate by donating new toys and non-perishable food to their charity drive. Last year, they were able to donate $39,000 worth of toys to the Salvation Army and donated 26.5 tons of food to the Harvest Hope food bank.

Maryland Student Service Alliance did a similar project, and collected 7,290 pounds of food and blankets to donate to shelters around the area. In Delaware, DART, Delaware's public transportation service, began a "Stuff the Bus" service project to help the Food Bank of Delaware. Last year they distributed almost 4 million pounds of food and filled orders for more than 170 nonprofit agencies and churches in Delaware.

KS95 in Twin Cities, Minneapolis also had a "Stuff the Bus" toy drive and were able to collect 4,000 new toys valued at $60,000 for the Salvation Army "Toy Shop".

Ryan Kemp, a Transfer Ambassador for Utah State University stated, "The University Ambassadors have always been involved with some kind of service, and this year Casey Bullock (President of Ambassadors) asked me if I would coordinate with the LTD, Aggie Shuttle and ASUSU for Stuff the Bus."

Kemp stated, "My job is to organize the 80 Ambassadors and make sure they are all involved in service." He was also in charge of advertisements around campus to get the students involved. Kemp, along with his committee, accomplished this by putting banners around campus, putting a TV commercial on the Valley Channel and having Ambassadors on campus accepting donations. Students were also able to donate money at various events on campus. "On December 1st, after the BYU v. USU game, Ambassadors stood at the exits with buckets and were able to raise $400 to put towards 'Stuff a Bus'."

Tyler Tew, a sophomore flight major from USU, said, "I think it is great how they are allowing us students to get involved. Even though we don't have much, we can always dig for some spare change."

Last Friday, the USU Ambassadors, 94.5 VFX, LTD, Aggie Shuttle as well as volunteers from the Service Center, stood outside of Wal-Mart from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. collecting canned food, toys and money for "Stuff a Bus."

Paige Ellison, a student at Utah State, donated cash to make Christmas a little better for people she didn't even know. She said, "It's a good cause, and it's that time of year when you should do service for others."

Angela Roberts, another student who made a donation of toys said, "Watching other people donate to help this wonderful cause, just made me want to do my part to help others this holiday season."

Last year in front of Wal-Mart, Stuff A Bus was able to earn $3,000 worth of Christmas items, which included cash, toys and canned goods. However, this year "Stuff A Bus" was able to earn nearly $2,200 in cash as well as over $3,000 worth of toys and canned food.

Jon Homer, one of the "Stuff A Bus" volunteers, said, "I was amazed how much people were willing to donate, especially those who seemed strapped for cash themselves."

In the future, Erickson would like to have the students at Utah State University take over the program. But he says he and Aggie Shuttle would love to always be a part of it because, "You feel like you have done some good."

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