School Supplies Drive Gives Students the Best Start

Amongst all the excitement of going back to school, this time of year can be challenging for families and students in need. That's why Jabil St. Petersburg continues to partner with the Pinellas Education Foundation to ease this transition.

The organization's Stuff The Bus initiative helps provide students with the supplies they need to make the best start at school. Jabil's involvement in the school supplies drive is multifaceted; our employees donate hundreds of items and help organize them and other community donations at the Stuff The Bus event held each year in downtown St. Petersburg.

This year Jabil collected four barrels full of school supplies for local students. In total, over 8,400 pounds of supplies was collected during the two-day event which will be delivered to public schools and distributed to the students.

"It was great to see such a positive response from our employees and the community," said Joanne Ho, IT project manager. "These students are now fully prepared to learn and have success in the classroom."

St. Petersburg's Mayor Rick Kriseman stopped by the event and thanked Jabil volunteers for their efforts, "This means so much to the students in the community. Roughly 50 percent of families are living at or below poverty, and things that a lot of us take for granted like providing school supplies to our kids is not something all of our families are able to do. That's why Stuff The Bus is so important because students don't have to worry about if they will have the supplies they need to learn," said Kriseman.

Jabil's partnership with the Pinellas Education Foundation also includes sponsoring STEM classroom grants and providing students scholarships through the Take Stock in Children program.

Jabil Cares, our community outreach and volunteerism platform, supports localized efforts around specific causes related to Education, Empowerment and the Environment.