(08/20/2026) – This Thursday morning, our staff and volunteers came together to load hundreds of backpacks onto a donated Peter Pan bus — the culmination of weeks of community generosity through our Stuff the Bus campaign.
The backpacks were packed with thousands of school supplies, from pencils and notebooks to everything in between, all collected through donations from across the Pioneer Valley over the past several weeks.
"It's always an honor and a privilege to support some of the youth going through the toughest times and make sure they have all of the school supplies and all of the backpacks they need and deserve," said Lee Drewitz, our Chief Operations Officer.
We were proud to welcome volunteers from Health New England, who joined our staff for the morning to help fill and load the bus. Among them was Stephne Morgan, a first-time Stuff the Bus volunteer who has supported several of our initiatives in the past.
"We're always either working in the food pantry or volunteering. It's just a good way for us to give back to the community," said Morgan, who serves as Risk Adjustment Program Manager at Health New England.
Once loaded, the bus set out to deliver backpacks to 15 school districts across Hampden County, Granby and South Hadley — all of which, under federal law, are required to have a coordinator supporting unhoused children in their schools.
East Longmeadow Public Schools was among the districts that received supplies.
"It's going to help parents to save them the resources, and I think it will put a smile on the kids' faces to see a nice bright backpack," said Mackenzie Fenn, an administrative assistant for the district's Director of Student Services.
This year, our volunteers filled an estimated 800 backpacks, down slightly from nearly 900 last year. Drewitz said that dip isn't necessarily a bad sign — but the work is far from finished.
"It's not an issue that goes away just because Stuff the Bus has happened," Drewitz said. "Try and find ways to get involved, because this is an issue that unfortunately exists throughout the school year."
Our goal remains simple: a Pioneer Valley where the number of unhoused children is zero. We'll be back at it for our next Stuff the Bus campaign next summer — and until then, we encourage our community to stay involved in supporting local students year-round.
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