COLUMBIA, S.C. — Thousands of gifts were collected through WLTX's Stuff-A-Bus event; now, volunteers will gather and prepare the items for families throughout the South Carolina Midlands.
Saturday was a day of celebration and reflection for volunteers in the S.C. State Fairgrounds as the next step in the Stuff-A-Bus event began. After weeks of collection, thousands of donations from across the Midlands were dropped off at the cattle barn early Saturday morning. Nicholas Julian, the director of social services at the Salvation Army of the Midlands, said that over 2,000 kids were on their registry this year.
"We take our individual angels, and we bag [gifts] up. We have specific numbers that each child has," he said. "We try to take as best as we can, and match what we have with what the kid is looking for."
Julian said families will come to the fairgrounds to pick up their bags, where their specific number will coordinate with their gifts.
He said this year was one of the best collections they've ever had.
"We did really great; the Midlands really came through, especially on Dec. 8, for the Stuff-A-Bus," he said. "We had more come in than what we were anticipating, which was great."
And Julian said there are still ways for the community to help out.
"There's certainly still time to get involved, whether it's volunteers or donations," he said. "It's best to just jump on our website or to just contact our main office and connect with a staff member there."