United Way of San Luis Obispo County coordinated two efforts to send children back to school with the tools they need to succeed: KidSpree, a shopping event that provides children with school appropriate clothing, and Stuff the Bus, a school supply drive supporting local schools, teachers and families.
A record breaking 250 local children were sponsored for the 17th annual KidSpree on Sunday, July 27. Thanks to the community’s generosity, these children are now ready to return to school this fall with pride and self-esteem.
KidSpree was held at Kohl’s in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. The K-12 children were nominated by local nonprofit agencies and were paired with a local community volunteer to help them shop for the items they most needed. Each of the Kohl’s stores waived sales tax and offered additional discounts.
The SLO County YMCA fingerprinted all volunteers, free of charge. The Kiwanis Club of Bay-Osos provided breakfast for participants, families and the volunteers after the spree. Business and service clubs sponsoring five or more children included: Glenn Burdette, Inc., Kiwanis Club of SLO Morning, Rotary Club of San
Luis Obispo Daybreak, the Running Warehouse, SESLOC Federal Credit Union, Tackle Warehouse, Tennis Warehouse, and Zurn Wilkins.
From Aug. 11-15, the community was invited to literally stuff a big yellow school bus with school supplies for the 6th Annual Stuff the Bus, in partnership with KSBY, and sponsored by Golden 1 Credit Union and Zurn
Wilkins. Volunteers staffed the busses and collected school supplies outside of Target, Walgreens and Walmart locations in SLO County. Meathead Movers donated boxes to hold the supplies and Atascadero
Unified, Paso Robles Joint Unified, San Luis Coastal Unified and Lucia Mar Unified School Districts donated the use of the school busses.
During the weeklong event, over $31,000 worth of school supplies were collected, which included more than 900 glue sticks, 1,700 spiral notebooks and 300 backpacks. All donations are kept local and were distributed among school districts in the county.
Several local businesses also hosted donation sites and made major donations: Clever Ducks, Coast Hills
Federal Credit Union, the Department of Child Support Services, Diablo Canyon/PG&E, Etna Interactive, Farm
Supply, Golden One, IQMS, Lindamood-Bell, Lubrizol, MINDBODY, Morris & Garritano, Pacific Eye, Promega
Biosciences, Rosetta, Shopatron, Inc., Sierra Vista, Specialty Silicone Fabricators, The Speech & Learning
Coach, Union Bank -San Luis Obispo, US Bank-Arroyo Grande, Verdin, and Zurn Wilkins.
Along with hosting these donations sites, businesses also participated in the “Creative Collection Site Contest”, with the theme “unmask your inner superhero.” United Way of San Luis Obispo County is proud to announce the winners in each category:
Clark Kent Award: Promega Biosciences
Caped Crusader Award: Etna Interactive
United Way’s work is focused on the building blocks for a good quality of life in San Luis Obispo County – education, income and health – because we all win when a child succeeds in school, when families are financially stable and when people are healthy. For more information about these programs, contact Rachel Cementina, Projects Coordinator at rcementina@unitedwayslo.org.