A Capital Metro bus parked outside a Whole Foods Market is an unusual sight, but the view inside the bus is even rarer, with brown bags filling each seat usually reserved for passengers. Each bag filled with food would be someone’s next meal.
Thanks to the overwhelming support from Central Texans, 177,496 meals were raised during the fifth annual “Stuff the Bus” food drive, surpassing the goal of raising 50,000 meals by three times and breaking the previous record!
The event brings together Whole Foods and Capital Metro and encourages the community to give back during the holiday season by making it easy to donate money at the register or a $5 pre-packaged bags filled with canned tuna, beans and vegetables.
For the first time, Whole Foods Market gave their guests a chance to stuff the bus a little early by allowing monetary donations at the register from December 1 through December 14.
Bag donations were collected at all five Austin-area Whole Foods locations and participants at the Domain and Downtown locations were able to place their donations inside a bus parked outside the store from December 9 through December 11.
To help kick off the event, Whole Foods First Friday Wine and Tasting event benefitted the food drive and helped raise 1,725 meals for families in need. To encourage people to participate, KIND donated 500 pounds of KIND bars to the Food Bank. Individuals who donated to Stuff the Bus were given a KIND bar at the Domain and Downtown locations.
We especially want to thank our wonderful community, Capital Metro, Whole Foods Market, and KIND who helped surpass the meal goal by more than 127,000 meals! We’re amazed by this incredible achievement and the continued support to help make sure Central Texans in need have a meal on their table. All the meals collected will help the nearly 46,000 individuals who rely on the Food Bank each week.
Thank you all for making Stuff the Bus a remarkable success!
