In August 2018, Partners In Education (PIE), the local education foundation for Craven County Schools, had just held it’s #StufftheBus18 campaign in preparation for the school year. PIE received a record amount of school supplies of $35,000, and Craven County Schools was well on its way to start a new school year with lots of school supplies.
Then the unthinkable happened. Just a few short weeks later, Hurricane Florence hit Craven County NC, and Eastern North Carolina was devastated. Craven County Schools alone had over $9 million in damages; many schools were used as shelters, and due to the damage, could not reopen for weeks. Once the board of directors of PIE realized that much of the supplies received from Stuff the Bus had been damaged, they decided, as Diane Bingler Bondurant tagged it, to #ReStufftheBus.
With Craven County Schools Central Services office unable to accept school supplies, Chip Chagnon, board Chairman of Craven County ABC Board, quickly stepped up and agreed to accept school supplies from all over the country. The staff at ABC Board hung the PIE “Stuff the Bus” banner on the front of their building so people would know where to go and the ABC office and warehouse became an unofficial annex for PIE.
Supplies were delivered in vans, trucks, the trunks of cars, and any other way that people could deliver the much needed supplies.
The CCABC staff of Paul Brown, Esther Blevins Patterson, and Pat Gulley, never hesitated to help those delivering items with unloading their vehicles. Many a hand cart and pallet load full of supplies were unloaded and Saturdays and Sundays were spent at the ABC Board warehouse. After collected goods were received and sorted CCABC staff and PIE volunteers delivered the supplies to the schools as they opened. The PIE Board recognized the joint efforts of volunteers and CCABC staff in their monthly meeting.