Clearfield Ministerium steps up with Stuff the Bus campaign
By Andy Stine
astine@altoonamirror.com
CLEARFIELD — The Clearfield Ministerium has been running a Stuff the Bus program at the Clearfield County Fair for about 12 years, with Pastor Bob Achey leading the project for about half of its years in existence.
Achey, a retired pastor of First Baptist Church of Clearfield, serves as the treasurer of the Clearfield Ministerium. The Stuff the Bus program is one that has great importance for everyone at the Ministerium.
“We know there are kids in this area who cannot afford what it takes (to succeed),” Achey said.
Each year at the Clearfield County Fair, a Fullington school bus is parked near the farm animals and visitors are invited to fill the bus with school supplies.
The Ministerium collects No. 2 pencils, crayons, colored pencils, markers, backpacks, notebooks, glue sticks, boys and girls underwear, socks, pencil boxes, index cards and paper. All supplies collected are donated to the Clearfield Area School District.
Not only are the students of Clearfield taken care of through the program, but the Ministerium also collects money for nurses at Clearfield for their supply needs, as well.
“The schools just don’t supply like they used to,” Achey said. “We usually do fairly well with it here.”
Not only is the county usually ready to help donate, but everyone at the Clearfield County Fairgrounds and the Fullington Bus Co. also is willing to accommodate the Ministerium.
“The day I called to ask for permission (for the fair), they sent me to the fair director (Greg Hallstrom), and I said, ‘Greg, it’s Pastor Achey.’ He said, ‘Right up next to the cattle barn,'” Achey said. “He knew what I was calling about. When I called Fullington, they recognized my number and they said, ‘Hi, Pastor. What day and when?'”
Achey also noted that Fullington will also be donating school supplies collected to the Clearfield Area School District.
Achey said some will drop off full backpacks stocked with various supplies. By the end of fair week, the Ministerium usually has around 18-20 boxes filled with various supplies.
About three years ago, Achey picked up an estimate of about 8,000 notebooks from the Walmart Distribution Center in Woodland.
“The principal just said we won’t need notebooks for a while,” Achey said.
The organization can be found on Facebook at Clearfield Ministerium. They also maintain a website called LoveClearfield.com, which is a growing directory of more than 125 resources around the borough.