This one will be heavier with pictures than words. Thank you so much for all of your help!
The Stuff the Bus totals are in!
This year, we received-
284 turkeys
50 hams
44 Lasagnas
$4608 in cash/gift card donations
Total food which includes the frozen food but does not include food that will still come in-
36,595 lbs which is over 18 tons of food!!!
Everything goes to the Sussex County Division of Social Services Food Pantry.
Thanks so much!
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The most important part of Stuff The Bus is getting to help our neighbors. One of my many favorite parts of Stuff The Bus is the people! Running into old friends every year, and meeting new ones every year too! Everyone in our community is so generous and happy to help. Everyone is in great spirits all weekend long, no matter what kind of weather we might be facing here in Jersey.
It is so rewarding when we have one of our Franklin Sussex Auto Mall Pay It Forward winners go to Steve Andrews, thank him for winning years ago, saying she's doing much better now and able to donate. She said she was greatly helped by that needed boost years ago and is so grateful for that and being able to help.
When the kids get involved knowing that they're helping other kids. The Garden State HOG group donating 60 frozen turkeys. It was like looking at a mountain of frozen turkeys in Newton at ShopRite yesterday.
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That rewarding feeling when we had our best opening ever at Lakeland Bank in Sparta. The laughing when my friends at Lakeland Bank all yelled at me because I waited until 5pm to wear my Santa Hat. I was trying to wear it in doses this year and I honestly didn't think anyone would notice a difference. I was wrong! At one point after I came back in with my Santa hat, Work Bestie Shawn asked if anything was wrong why was I running to my car. I explained that they all wanted me to wear my Santa hat. She couldn't believe it either, until one by one our Lakeland Bank friends all exclaimed "he's finally wearing that Santa hat!" Just one of those fun memories that you can only get here, and with our friends.
While we all love breaking records and getting huge numbers (you might know I'm a statistic / research NERD,) it's so important to remember the reason. Getting to help people with our platforms is so rewarding, and humbling too.
When a veteran hands me a donation, explaining how he was hungry once, and never wants anyone else to experience that ever again. So many amazing stories from our Stuff The Bus. If time permitted, this could be a book or a novel!
Thank you so much for helping! Time to start planning next weekend, where I'm going home to see my family for Thanksgiving. I cannot wait to see them!!!!