Photo by Deb Gau Volunteers Xochitl Perez, Gail Polejewski and Joseph Karanja worked to pick out items on lists of classroom supplies donated to United Way of Southwest Minnesota’s “Stuff the Bus” drive. On Wednesday, the donated school supplies were distributed to a total of 22 schools in southwest Minnesota.

MARSHALL — The start of the school year is approaching fast, and this week area residents came together to help schools and students get ready.

The garage area at the MERIT Center in Marshall had been turned into a kind of drive-through depot Wednesday. People from area businesses and organizations were arriving to drop off donations of school supplies for United Way of Southwest Minnesota’s “Stuff the Bus” supply drive. At the same time, volunteers worked to sort donations according to different schools’ needs.

“From the volunteers to the donors, it’s awesome,” UWSWMN board member Joseph Karanja said of the support for Stuff the Bus. “And every year, it seems like it’s getting better and better.”

This year, Stuff the Bus collected more than 56,000 school supply items for distribution to 22 schools in southwest Minnesota. Each school has its own distribution process to make sure supplies get to students who need them, said UWSWMN CEO Meg Louwagie.

“I spoke with one volunteer who is a retired teacher and now assists with the distribution for a local school. She told me of the direct impact these supplies have on the students in her area,” Louwagie said. “I am truly impressed by the generosity and support of our community.”

The supply drive helps around 3,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, Louwagie said.

The school supplies volunteers were sorting through on Wednesday morning included everything from notebooks, pencils and crayons to items like backpacks and rulers. Volunteers worked with lists of items requested by different schools, and separated out the donations so they could be picked up later in the day.

Louwagie said this year was the first time that school supply pickups were being held at the MERIT Center. The Marshall National Guard Armory, which was normally the pickup site, was not available this year due to some work going on in the building.

However, the community support for the supply drive was still strong, Louwagie said. In addition to people filling public drop sites for school supplies, community organizations, employee groups and businesses in UWSWMN’s service area also held their own drives.

“Some really went above and beyond,” she said. Community donors and volunteers have played a key role in Stuff the Bus’s success. “Without them, we wouldn’t be able to make this happen.”