Blue Devils ‘Stuff The Bus’ With Record Success

Huntington High School student government members loaded the items onto a school bus. Photo/Huntington School District

This year’s Huntington School District “Stuff the Bus” food drive, sponsored by the Huntington High School student government, broke all previous records for the sheer volume of items collected, and ultimately disbursed to community food pantries.

Anthony Troffa and Fred Bisogno, student government faculty advisors, were both astonished and delighted with the response to this year’s initiative. Class level officers, teachers, community members and friends pitched in a remarkable way. Students stood outside of local supermarkets collecting items over the span of several weeks and individual classes even assisted the drive.

“This year Mr. Troffa and Mr. Bisogno asked us to step it up and prove our capability,” said senior Meghan Plant, treasurer of the Class of 2016. “Well, I think the outcome proved how great our student body and community are. We spent mornings in the cold standing outside making announcements every day and we were able to fill two buses to their maximum. I am honestly beyond proud of how great we did it. We were able to help so many families with the upcoming holidays. I’m proud of our student government and all the help we received!”

In a typical year, students load the food collected onto a school bus donated for the day by Huntington Coach Corp. The bus is then driven around town and unloaded at various food pantries. However, this year, so many items were collected that the bus had to be loaded twice and even then couldn’t accommodate all the items and a senior’s truck had to be utilized.

“Stuff the Bus is one of my favorite events at the high school,” said senior Brianna McDonald, the student government’s historian. “This year we collected an insane amount of food and had one of the biggest collections we’ve ever had. We had to take two bus trips to drop off the food and the buses were packed. It is really inspiring to see the whole community come together to make this event so successful.”

As the items were collected over the course of the drive, the goods were brought to Bisogno’s and sorted and boxed. Last Saturday, students carried the goods downstairs and loaded them for delivery.

“Stuff the Bus was a huge success this year and I am so glad that I got to be a part of it,” said senior Katie Reilly, the student government’s recording secretary. “Two full buses pushed to their limit exceeded any expectations of mine and we even had to throw a huge box of items in Meghan Plant’s truck! Members from Young Leaders, Interact club and student government helped collect food, but at the high school anyone that walked by helped us load the bus. It really was a group effort. It truly was amazing to know that we were able to bring in that much food especially in time for Easter.”