More than 40,000 school supplies collected during Cape Coral "Stuff the Bus" drive

CAPE CORAL, Fla. (WINK) — A Cape Coral community effort to help local students start the school year prepared has surpassed expectations, collecting more than 40,000 school supply items in just two weeks.

Volunteers gathered Saturday morning at Bahnam Builders in Cape Coral to officially "Stuff the Bus," loading thousands of donated backpacks, notebooks, pencils, binders, crayons, glue sticks and other classroom essentials onto a school bus headed for local families.

The event marked the culmination of the inaugural Stuff the Bus school supply drive organized by Bahnam Builders and supported by local businesses, schools, churches, nonprofits and residents throughout the Cape Coral area.

Organizer Queen Ellis said the idea was born out of a simple goal: helping families facing the rising costs of preparing children for a new school year.

"We saw a need and said, 'Why don't we do something that can help the community?'" Ellis said. "It's easy to buy a pack of pencils, but when you need 18 different school supply items for multiple children, it can become very expensive."

Ellis said she personally calculated the cost of purchasing the required school supplies for one student and found it totaled more than $200 before even including a backpack.

"I can only imagine what parents have to do, especially if they have three or four children," Ellis said. "This is our way of giving back to the community."

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The donations poured in quickly.

According to organizers, more than 40,000 school supply items were collected during the two-week campaign, and additional donations continued arriving even as volunteers prepared to load the bus.

"We have way more than we thought we would get," Ellis said. "We are blessed and overwhelmed by the support."

Bahnam Builders owner Alan Bahnam said the response from the community exceeded expectations.

"I was a little hesitant doing it right when school was ending," Bahnam said. "I didn't know how many people would be engaged, but surprisingly, we were able to get enough supplies to fill this thing."

Bahnam said conversations with teachers helped inspire the initiative.

"Every time I engage with teachers, they're always looking for additional supplies," he said. "We just want to help these kids and help these teachers as much as we can so teachers don't feel like they're carrying the burden of those expenses."

The supplies collected on Saturday will be transported with assistance from Oasis High School transportation staff to Christian Life Fellowship Church.

The church will organize and distribute the donations to local families during a back-to-school giveaway scheduled for Aug. 1.

Ellis said the donations will help students enter the classroom with the tools they need to succeed while easing financial pressures on both families and teachers.

"You can't learn if you're not equipped," Ellis said. "It's like going to work and not having the tools you need to build a home. We want our students to have the right tools so they can start the year ready and prepared."

For local students like Austin Bahnam, who will enter fifth grade at Oasis Elementary South this fall, the supplies are more than just school materials.

"They help me learn and keep me organized," Austin said.

Organizers say the overwhelming support has already sparked discussions about making Stuff the Bus an annual tradition.

"This was phenomenal," Ellis said. "This is our inaugural year, and it was a major success. We hope to do this every year."

Community sponsors included Bahnam Builders, Oasis High School, LMCU, Staples, Christian Life Fellowship, the Cape Coral Construction Industry Association, Integrity 1st Group, Jump Masters, Pop N Roll and Cicis Pizza.

Families interested in receiving school supplies can attend the distribution event at Christian Life Fellowship on Aug. 1.