Dauphin County officials and community volunteers will accept donations at the annual “Fill the Bus” event for students in need to help them start school with the tools they need to succeed.

This year’s event will be July 15-17, between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day, at Mid Penn Bank in Elizabethville (adjacent to Walmart parking lot).

Items needed include gently used student clothing, back packs, school supplies like pencils, notebooks, glue, scissors, erasers, rulers, pens, index cards, pencil sharpeners, crayons, file folders, and gift cards for Wal-Mart and Smart Style.

Individually packed, non-perishable food items for students, such as Pop Tarts, oatmeal, canned meats, pastas, cups of applesauce, fruits, puddings, Slim Jims, juice pouches, ramen noodles, and soup packets, will also be accepted.

“This event helps hundreds of students every year,” Dauphin County Commissioner George P. Hartwick III said. “These items go a long way in improving wellness and happiness for students and families in need.”

Donations will be distributed at the free back-to-school yard sales in August, organized by area churches, for Halifax, Millersburg, Upper Dauphin, and Williams Valley school students.

Wal-Mart and Salvation Army will also have collection boxes located at the front of the Wal-Mart store during “Fill the Bus” dates.

For more information, contact Bonnie Kent at Northern Dauphin Human Services Center at 717-905-2700.

MEDIA CONTACT: Brett Hambright, Press Secretary, 717-780-6311; bhambright@dauphinc.org.