BSH Home Appliances is passionate about starting our students back to school with the school supplies needed to start them on the road to success. PIE president Jason Jones and BSH Home Appliances Vice President Andy MacLaren announced that BSH Home Appliances has agreed to be the Title Partner for Stuff the Bus for the fourth consecutive year. “BSH is committed to improving the quality of life at home and here in New Bern we want to help ensure that students are ready for school with the supplies they need on the first day of school,” Mr. MacLaren explained. “We recognize that purchasing school supplies may be a challenge in some homes and we embrace this opportunity to help.”
Mr. Jones explained, “To assist those students, PIE will have a bright yellow school bus parked in front of Staples in New Bern on Saturday, August 20, 2022, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Generous shoppers can donate school supplies for students who have been identified as in-need by their school counselors and principals. The supplies collected will be disbursed once school starts by the school principals.”
Volunteers from the schools and our community will be on hand and honking the horn of the school bus each time a donation is made as a way of showing thanks.
A shopping list is currently available on the PIE website at CravenPartners.com, and is listed on the individual schools’ websites. Monetary donations will be accepted through the PIE website.
For those who can’t make it to the event, feel free to drop off school supplies year-round at the PIE office, located in the Craven County Schools Central Services office at 3600 Trent Road.
Many businesses have agreed to be drop-off locations and will collect items until Friday, August 19. They are:
- BSH Home Appliances, 100 Bosch Blvd., New Bern
- Baxter Family Eye Care, 3000 Trent Rd., New Bern
- Bella’s Café, 323 Middle St., New Bern
- Century 21 Zaytoun-Raines, 312 S. Front St., New Bern
- Craven County Schools, 3600 Trent Rd., New Bern
- Edward Jones Investments – Dan Roberts, 301 S. Front St., New Bern
- Edward Jones Investments – Georgiana Bowman Bircher, 246 Craven St., New Bern
- Marine Federal Credit Union, 2034 Waterscape Way, New Bern
- Mitchell Hardware, 215 Craven St., New Bern
- Moen, 101 Industrial Drive, New Bern
- Paula’s Pizza, 3946 Dr. MLK, Jr., Blvd., New Bern
- Rankin & Fiume Orthodontics, 608 McCarthy Blvd., New Bern
- Robinson Family Dental, 610 Miller Blvd., Havelock (Tuesday – Thursday, 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
- Rowland & the Home Sales Team, 2602 Neuse Blvd., New Bern (Open House to collect supplies on August 6, 9:00 a.m. – Noon)
- Staples New Bern, 3230 Dr. M.L. King, Jr. Blvd., New Bern
- Sylvan Learning Center, 416-A Pollock St., New Bern
- Toyota of New Bern. 5010 US Hwy 70 East, New Bern
- Truist, 375 S. Front St., New Bern (downtown branch only)
- Two Rivers Church, 3321 Neuse Blvd., New Bern (Mon., Tue., Thu.: 9:00 a.m. – Noon; Wed., Fri.: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.)
- Weyerhaeuser, 1785-B Weyerhaeuser Rd., Vanceboro
- White & Allen, PA, 901 College Ct., New Bern
Last year, through the generosity of our community, Partners In Education received $80,000 in donations and was able to assist students in all 26 schools. Based on this success, Partners In Education is recruiting the help of all our community partners so that we are able to reach even more students this year.
Mr. Jones announced that 47 organizations have partnered with PIE as Major Partners, demonstrating a strong sense of community and support of our public schools. They are: AlphaGraphics, Baxter Family Eye Care, Bella’s Café, Bojangles’, BSH Home Appliances, CarolinaEast Health System, Cella Ford, Century 21 Zaytoun-Raines, Chatsworth Products, Coastal Carolina Health Care, Craven County Wood Energy, Edward Jones Investments Financial Advisors Michael Bass, Charles Benson, III, Georgiana Bowman Bircher, Joanna Carr, Kevin Page, Dan Roberts IV, and Michael Sprague, First Citizens Bank, International Paper, Marine Federal Credit Union, MBF Architects, Mitchell Hardware, Moen, Morgan’s Tavern & Grill, Neuse River Region Association of REALTORS, Inc., New Bern Now, Optimum, PPG Paints, Paula’s Italian Restaurant, Piedmont Natural Gas, Pierce Group Benefits, Rankin & Fiume Orthodontics, Robinson Family Dental, Rotary Club of New Bern, Rowland & the Home Sales Team, Savage’s Wood Burning Pizzeria, Segal Family Charities, Smithfield Foods, Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q, Staples – New Bern, Sumrell Sugg – Attorneys at Law, Sun Journal, Sylvan Learning Center, Toyota of New Bern, Trent Cadillac Buick GMC, Truist, Weyerhaeuser Co., White & Allen, Williams Scarborough Gray, WITN-TV, and WRNS 95.1 & WERO Bob 93.3.
If you know a student in need of school supplies, contact the principal at your student’s school. All items collected are distributed through the school counselors and principals.
For more information about this event, or how you can support PIE, contact Darlene Brown at 252-514-6321 or send an email. Visit the PIE website at CravenPartners.com to learn more about the programs offered by Partners In Education.
Partners In Education is a 501(C)3 nonprofit corporation that provides grant funding and special programs to classrooms and schools within the Craven County Schools system.
By Darlene Brown, Executive Director, Partners In Education