2024 Stuff A Bus effort restocks The Salvation Army of Michigan City’s food pantry for the fall season. Donation results include 7,068 lbs of donated non-perishable food/hygiene items, 308 meat vouchers (valued at $5 each), and $6,040 in cash donations.
Written by: Dorene Martinson, Marketing Director – First Trust Credit Union
Saturday’s STUFF A BUS event went well, according to Dorene Martinson, Marketing Director for First Trust Credit Union. First Trust has the lead role of organizing this event every year, and this year’s event did indeed restock the shelves of The Salvation Army of Michigan City’s food pantry. “I’m pleased with the results we achieved this year,” Martinson said. “First Trust employees and account holders at our credit union donated a good deal of groceries during our food drive, and even with the hike in grocery prices still affecting our planning, we were able to surpass last year’s grocery donation by over 2,500 lbs.” The Salvation Army, Al’s Supermarkets, Michigan City Area School Corporation, WEFM Radio, WIMS Radio, and First Trust Credit Union once again joined forces to hold the annual STUFF-A-BUS food drive on Saturday, September 28th to collect food/hygiene items and meat vouchers to fill the food pantry shelves. This year’s efforts marked the 21st year of the community coming together to help those in need. A big thanks goes out to the community once again for working together to make this a successful event for The Salvation Army. Major Becky Simmons of The Salvation Army of Michigan City stated, “We greatly appreciate the support the Michigan City Community gives to The Salvation Army as we strive to meet the food-insecurity needs of so many in Michigan City, and ultimately provide programs to move these families to self-sufficiency.” She added, “We at The Salvation Army love that the people of Michigan City understand what ‘community’ means.”
Baker Wille, one of the youngest volunteers, has been participating in the Stuff-A-Bus event since she was two years old. This is the 10th year that Wille has volunteered and she looks forward to continuing the tradition. “I like helping people who really need it,” Wille said. “It makes me feel happy and good about myself. Over the years, I’ve helped out with several different aspects of the Stuff-A-Bus event by handing out flyers to customers so they know what to donate and taking the bags from the store to the bus. It’s a lot of fun. I’m definitely going to keep volunteering at this event in the future.”
Justin Teets, newly promoted store manager at the Al’s Supermarket location on Franklin Street, is pleased to help out with the Stuff-A-Bus here in the first week since his promotion.
“Al’s Supermarket has been involved with the Stuff-A-Bus event since I started with the company 21 years ago,” Teets said. “We always appreciate having the opportunity to give back to the community that has supported us over the years. It’s great to see people from all over Michigan City work together to achieve a common goal. Hopefully, all of the volunteers here today are proud to have helped the needy families in our area.”
Live radio remotes with WEFM 95.9 FM and WIMS AM 1420 radio added to the overall excitement of the day as groceries were loaded into a school bus at each Al’s location. Ric Federighi, Owner/General Manager of WIMS radio stated, “Always wonderful to work with such great community partners in making a difference in the lives of others.”
Buses were provided by the Michigan City Area Schools. Businesses including Lakeshore Foods and First Trust Credit Union rose to the occasion with generous monetary donations. Other area businesses including NIPSCO sent a crew to help pack bags prior to the event. Michigan City High School JROTC once again assisted with the unloading of the buses into the pantry at The Salvation Army at the conclusion of the event. Martinson stated, “First Trust has been involved with this event from the start, and it’s amazing each year to see our community make it a priority to do their part. Efforts like these exemplify ‘People Helping People’ at its finest, which is the core value of all credit unions.” First Trust’s LaPorte branch also conducted a food drive in their lobby to support the LaPorte Salvation Army’s Stuff a Bus event as well. Jessica O’Brien, Development Director for the Salvation Army, shared the next events coming for The Salvation Army of Michigan City which include Stuff A Sleigh on Saturday, December 7th at both Al’s Supermarkets, and the kickoff for the bell-ringing season during the holidays is coming in November. If you are interested in volunteering for either event, or if you are a family in need and would benefit from the assistance available from The Salvation Army, you can call (219) 874-6885, or e-mail Majors Dale or Becky Simmons, head Administrators/Pastors, at: Dale.Simmons@usc.salvationarmy.org or Rebecca. Simmons@usc.salvationarmy.org