Members of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Bus Operators Association must have been wearing four-leaf clovers Tuesday, March 17, because their efforts to “go green” for the annual Stuff the Bus for the Food Bank project lead to a pot of gold – and pots of food.

The association and Neighbors Federal Credit Union (NFCU) partnered on the project to collect enough green money by St. Patrick’s Day, yesterday, to cover the school bus with fake dollar bills – one for every dollar raised for the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.  With yesterday’s added on-site donations at the Neighbors FCU branch on Goodwood, the total came to just under $4,000.  That includes a $500 donation from Neighbors FCU, not to mention individual employee donations.  About 2,881 pounds of food were collected, as well.

Bus drivers, students from McKinley High School’s Key Club, Neighbors FCU representatives and others helped collect food and donations at the Goodwood site yesterday.  Bus driver aide Corine Reese’s 3-year-old granddaughter, Reese Thomas, also helped out (first photo).  In addition, bus driver and organizer Pam Wilson even used a bullhorn to draw attention to the cause (second photo).
















The original goal was to collect $2,114 – enough dollars to “cover” the entire school bus.  Baton Rouge Magnet High School students did the math for this calculation.    The school bus drivers held their first Stuff the Bus event for the Food Bank two years ago, and Neighbors FCU joined the partnership last year.  In 2008, they collected 4,411 pounds of food and $1,400 in monetary donations.  About $500 of those donations came from Neighbors FCU.  

In addition, non-perishable food drives were held to stuff the school bus.  Neighbors FCU set up an account for monetary donations, and East Baton Rouge Parish School System schools last week and the week prior collected food and money for the cause.  The Neighbors FCU account will remain open for awhile, and people can give money to the Food Bank at any branch location.

Every dollar donated can purchase enough food to feed 10 people and generates more than $12 worth of food for the hungry.  As a non-profit organization, the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank provides food to more than 120 charitable agencies without charge, serves 11 parishes and helps about 7,300 people each day through its network.  In 2007, the Food Bank distributed more than 10.8 million pounds of food.  About 94 percent of its food is donated and distributed with the help of thousands of volunteers.

For more information, contact Pam Wilson of the School Bus Operators Association at (225) 262-4572 or (225) 921-5181, Neighbors FCU’s Joni Herrmann at (225) 819-5748 or the Food Bank at (225) 359-9940.