ONTARIO — On Friday, Aug 9, Sluss Realty, 1641 Park Avenue West, is hosting its third annual Stuff the Bus to support the S.A.F.E. program (Student Achievement through Family Engagement) for the Mansfield City School District.
This event is for the kids and families who have been identified as homeless.
Despite the stash of shampoo, clothing and toys inside the Tiger Care Cave at the Mansfield City Schools board office, SAFE program coordinator, Phil Mitchell, said that, by October, all of the items will be gone.
The SAFE program, which has been operating the last seven years, currently assists around 300 homeless students a year.
“The number of homeless students has increased since the time I’ve been working there,” Mitchell said, who has been with the program nearly since its inception. “Most of the children who have been homeless once or twice in their lifetime usually don’t graduate from school. Often times, they’re a grade level behind. Many of them land in that cycle of poverty and really struggle to get out.
“We try to take away as many barriers as we can for those students, and one thing we can do is take care of some of the tangible barriers and make them feel a little better themselves.”
While food and shelter are vital, Mitchell said the next question is to check in on the student’s mental health
“Most of these kids are damaged and they don’t feel too good about themselves,” he said. “We try to educate every person in the district on poverty and homelessness and the signs to look for. Once we identify those kids, we try to do everything we can to help them.”
Sluss Marketing Director Jami Kinton-Sluss said the initiative is one of many for the Mansfield agency.
“Being a local small business, we definitely understand the importance of community support,” she said. “We are constantly looking for new ways to give back and when we heard about this program we knew we wanted to get involved.
“This is our third year and we’re extremely proud to share that it has become the largest fundraiser for the SAFE program.”
The community is invited to drop off any of the listed items (new items only, please) at Sluss Realty, 1641 Park Avenue West, Mansfield, anytime between 8 and 5 p.m. — but the official day of outreach is Friday.
A Mansfield City School bus will be parked outside their offices from 9-4 p.m. that day.
For more information, call 419-529-3047 and ask for Jami Kinton-Sluss.
Items needed
Skinny markers
Rulers
Pencil sharpners
Girl Bookbags
Small toys
Puzzles (24 and 48 pieces)
Coloring books
Toilet paper
Shampoo
Conditioner
Chapstick
Hair Accessories
Pony tail holders
Bows, clips and scrunchies
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Deodorant
Stuffed Animals
Legos