Iola Lions Club hosts event to help students
The Iola Lions held their annual Stuff the Bus event Aug. 29 at the Iola Sentry.
Several community members stopped by to say hello and drop off supplies or a monetary donation. The Iola-Scandinavia Chamber of Commerce kicked off the giving with a $500 check.
Iola Sentry promoted and provided space to hold the event, as well as donated a lot of school supplies to get the event started.
Although the turnout wasn’t as large as last year, hundreds of notebooks, folders, pencils, erasers, glue sticks, hand sanitizers and more were donated, as well as monetary donations in the amount of $862 the day of the event for a grand total of $1,362.
Lion Ray Przekurat, district administrator of the Iola-Scandinavia School District, spent the day at the event.
“The Stuff the Bus event is extremely important to our community,” he said. “This year will be different from any other start to our school year. The need for special school supplies will help many of our families already struggling with day-to-day issues.
“The cost of these items add up quickly for families,” he said. “This event provides support to those in need and supplies for our schools and students that is greatly appreciated. The I-S School District would like to thank everyone involved with this program and those who have donated.”
“On behalf of the Iola Lions, I want to thank everyone that contributed to the success of our Stuff the Bus event,” organizer Mark Forseth said. “We are blessed to live in such a giving community. We extend our best wishes to all the students, teachers and staff for a safe and healthy school year.”
Donations can be dropped off at the Iola-Scandinavia Elementary School.