LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- Summer has started, but it's never too late to start thinking about next school year. Those at United Way of Acadiana are kicking off their 'Stuff the Bus' school supply drive. This drive makes sure families in need are given what they need to make the next school year a success.

"Families have a hard time making ends meet and buying school supplies can be an extra financial burden for them," says Holly Cope-Lynn, Market and Communications Director for United Way of Acadiana. United Way of Acadiana collects these school supplies to hopefully provide some economic relief for both students and teachers in the area. "Half of every household lives in economic hardship, so that's half of our students, half of our teachers," says Cope-Lynn.

Teachers are increasingly dipping into their own pockets to set their classrooms up for success. "Teachers spends on average $800 a year in their own funds to buy these supplies for their classrooms," adds Cope-Lynn. This school supply drive is a huge undertaking and United Way is reliant on both community help and volunteers. 'It takes hundreds of volunteer hours, it takes hundreds of volunteers," says Cope-Lynn. "There are multiple phases, everything from businesses signing up to be collection sites to people actually bringing in their items to donate."

Some of the items collected include paper, pens, pencils, crayons, folders, Kleenex, and hand-sanitizer. At this time, United Way of Acadiana is attempting to rally businesses to become drop-off locations for these items. They need businesses in Lafayette parish, but especially other parishes in their five-parish service zone, including Acadiana, Iberia, St. Martin, and Vermilion. "We get the school supplies to those school districts, and we need businesses in those parishes to collect school supplies," adds Cope-Lynn.

Eventually, at the end of the summer, when all these items are collected, they plan to fill up their entire warehouse. According to Cope-Lynn, this is not an impossible goal, especially with the success the drive saw last year. "Last year, we collected more than $100,000 in value in school supplies," says Cope-Lynn. "That went to 500 teachers in our five parish areas and that helped 30,000 students and that is serious impact," adds Cope-Lynn.

The 'Stuff the Bus' school supply drive runs from June 17th through July 16th. If you are a business owner and you'd like to sign up your business to be a drop off location, you can visit www.unitedwayofacadiana.org/stuffthebus to do so. United Way of Acadiana also has purchase supplies on an Amazon wishlist that can be shipped directly to their warehouse. Any additional information can be found at www.unitedwayofacadiana.org/stuffthebus.

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