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Stuff the Bus Back-To School Fair 2024 | Tuesday, July 30 from 11am-4pm

Amazing Grace Academy | 2238 E Inner Springer Lp., Palmer AK

Hello everyone!

First, United Way of Mat-Su would like to sincerely thank each and everyone of you for joining us for Stuff the Bus at Amazing Grace Academy. We were blown away by the success of this event, which cannot be measured in backpacks and school supplies alone.

We received nothing but positive feedback from our fellow agencies and especially from the families who attended. Having a wonderful playground, activities and games, bubbles, awesome swag giveaways, free hot dogs, gently-used clothing, haircuts on-site, and such a great array of local resources from our fellow nonprofits means the world to families. The atmosphere was upbeat and positive and the sun came out!

STUFF THE BUS 2024 AT A GLANCE:

  • Backpacks/supplies distributed: 1050 (United Way of Mat-Su and St. Bartholomew’s Church are working to distribute more supplies to agencies serving vulnerable populations, and to complete contact with our wait list of those who were unable to attend.)
  • Haircuts: 45-Style Starts Here Academy did an INCREDIBLE job! We are so thankful for their hard work and professional touch.
  • Networking & Connection: 14 agencies participated in the Vendor Fair this year! It was so great to see everyone, catch up on what’s happening for fellow nonprofits and share information with all the families.
  • Overall Attendance: UWMS estimates that over 1500 community members visited the event this year. This is a combination of K-12 students, their parents/guardians, younger siblings or accompanying little ones ages 5 and under, volunteers and vendors. There was something for everyone, even if they were not receiving backpacks and supplies: games, hot dogs, resource information, and more.
  • Volunteers/ Hours Contributed: Please note that this metric is based on volunteers signed up through United Way of Mat-Su only. If your agency also utilized volunteers, we encourage you to calculate based on the actual hours contributed directly to your agency.

50 volunteers day-of

6 planning volunteers (Amazing Grace Academy + St. Bartholomew’s Church)

Volunteer hours contributed during planning: 28

Hours contributed during event setup and event day: 375

The fun, joy and community heart for giving was evident all day long. Countless hours go into planning and preparing for this event, and we could not have been happier with how the day went. We hope that you all had just as much fun as we did, and were able to make valuable connections with clients and fellow nonprofits.