Helena's Stuff the Bus raises funds as school supply costs climb

A $25 or $35 school fee may look small on paper, but in Helena it landed beside groceries, shoes and utility bills. That is why the Angel Fund’s Stuff the Bus campaign was back in motion, with nearly every local school taking part and a $60,000 target aimed at keeping students supplied from the first day of class. After its first week, the drive had already brought in more than $5,000, and Valley Bank was matching donations up to $5,000.

Now in its 20th year, Stuff the Bus had moved well beyond the old image of a bus packed with loose backpacks and pencils. Angel Fund executive director Janet Riis said schools chose what they needed most, then the nonprofit bought in bulk locally and online so the money stretched farther and matched classroom lists more closely. The campaign ran from June 15 through Aug. 4, with grants set to go out the week of Aug. 4, and donations were still being accepted through the summer.

At Bryant Elementary, principal Tia Wilkins said the payoff started before a lesson was taught. “It really helps kids feel safe and seen by their community,” she said, describing the value of having supplies waiting when students arrived. Wilkins said 16% of Bryant’s student population was experiencing homelessness, a reminder that the need was not abstract, and Helena Public Schools identified 253 students who met the McKinney-Vento definition of homeless in fall 2025, 43 more than at the same point the year before.

The price pressure had been building beyond notebooks and crayons. Helena Public Schools’ 2025-26 supply lists showed Bryant Elementary at a $35 supply fee and Warren Elementary at $25, while Angel Fund said the average yearly cost of supplies ran $70 to $80 for elementary students and $90 to $100 for middle and high school students; later coverage put that range at $80 to $90 and $100 to $150. Riis said families often had to choose between school supplies, clothes, shoes and the utility bill, a tradeoff that has made cash donations more useful than bins of random items. The same inflation that hit family budgets also strained district budgets statewide in 2024, when school leaders said state funding had not kept pace with rising costs. For Helena, Stuff the Bus had become a practical response to a real affordability squeeze, not just a seasonal drive.