Sure, the idea was simple: Take a school bus and fill it with donated school supplies. But, done right, simplicity equals elegance, and this drive was a prime example of that principle.
Epic Waters, an indoor waterpark set in a massive entertainment district in Grand Prairie, Texas, is always on the lookout to give to its community. In fact, it even has a group — its 60-person Continuous Improvement Team — charged with finding and implementing such opportunities. They volunteer their own time and sometimes work events while on Epic Waters’ payroll.
The team wanted a way to help local children by providing school supplies. That’s when they conceived Stuff the Bus, a drive meant to channel donations to the Grand Prairie Independent School District.
Practical Kitsch
One couldn’t argue with the novelty of this idea: A bus full of school supplies is bound to draw attention.
But it also served multiple practical purposes: Not only could the bus store a literal ton (probably) of supplies for local school children, but it also would transport the donations to their final destination.
And from a marketing standpoint, it serves as its own billboard when placed in the right place. In this instance, the team chose to place it at a prominent local park. You can’t beat the visual. With some social media posts and community signage added to the mix, word spread.
“It looks great in front of our park, and it inspires our staff members, who bring hundreds of items just because,” says Epic Waters Director of Marketing Cassidy Schippel. “This program is close to our heart, and that shows in the results.”
Participants receive a free pass for every 10 supplies donated, with some restrictions applying, such as a maximum of one pass per family per day. Needless to say, some families donated over the course of multiple days, to secure passes for everyone.
Six years in, the program has yielded more donations with each iteration. The most recent drive saw the biggest jump. Where a single bus proved enough to store even last year’s haul — at 26,000 items — this year’s drive required three buses to contain the 56,000 school supplies collected.
“We got one bus, we filled that bus, then we got another one,” says Tony Nelson, assistant general manager with Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark. “This year we didn’t stuff the bus, we stuffed the busses.”
While the concept may be simple, the drive still requires effort.
Nelson and Schippel estimate that every donated item is touched by one to three staff members, between picking them up, sorting them, unloading them and then distributing passes to those who contribute.
One good idea breeds another
Stuff the Bus proved so successful that it inspired another event — Fill the Flex, where community members stockpile a Ford Flex vehicle with canned goods, which go to a local food bank.
Held around Thanksgiving each year, it began a little earlier this time around in response to a growing number of families in need in the area. With the vehicle painted a vivid teal, tricked out with wood paneling, and branded to the hilt, it again serves as its own best advertising.
Like its older sibling, this year’s Fill the Flex campaign had a banner year. Closing Nov. 14, the two-week drive yielded more than 10,000 canned goods.
“We exceeded last year by far,” Nelson says.
