San Joaquin Regional Transit District (RTD) will hold its 17th Annual Stuff the Bus food drive Nov. 20-22. RTD will once again lead a countywide effort, joined by the Greater Yosemite Council Boy Scouts and transit agencies in Lodi, Manteca, and Escalon to collect food for the following nonprofit agencies in their respective communities: Greater Stockton Emergency Food Bank, Salvation Army, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Escalon CARE. The food collected will feed thousands of San Joaquin County residents this holiday season.
RTD began Stuff the Bus in 1999 as a food drive campaign that encourages area residents to “stuff” an RTD bus with food donations to benefit local nonprofit agencies. Agencies will also accept turkey and meat donations for families to use for holiday dinners. Over the past 17 years, RTD and its campaign partners have collected over 245,000 pounds of food to help those in need during the holiday season.
For the third year in a row, Boy Scouts – Greater Yosemite Council will participate in Stuff the Bus through the Scouting for Food Program. On November 14, the Scouts will begin placing door hangers requesting nonperishable food items. The Scouts will return to collect the food on November 21 and drop the donations off at Stuff the Bus locations. Last year, the Scouts collected 15,474 pounds of food to drop off at Stuff the Bus events.
Stuff the Bus will be held at four locations this year: Food 4 Less stores on Hammer Lane in Stockton, in Lodi, and in Manteca; and Big Boy Market in Escalon. Participants can register to win raffle prizes at Food 4 Less locations in Stockton, Lodi, and Manteca. Event participants at the Escalon location will receive 10% off any food purchased at Big Boy Market.
