84 Lumber Collects Toys for Children and Fills an Entire Bus

84 Lumber has enhanced efforts to collect toys for children in need this holiday season. For the third straight year, the building materials supplier was a sponsor of the annual Stuff-A-Bus campaign in Pittsburgh, hosted by iHeartMedia’s 96.1 KISS. The initiative attempts to stuff as many school buses as possible with donations for the Marine Toys for Tots program. The company also held toy drives at its Pittsburgh-area locations to support the campaign.

At its Team Headquarters in Eighty Four, Pa., associates, as well as the public, were encouraged to donate enough toys to fill its 160-square-foot Degsy tiny house. Dubbed Stuff the Degsy, the event collected nearly 200 toys ranging from bikes to board games. Pittsburgh-area 84 Lumber stores held separate toy drives, collecting almost 400 additional toys. Its total contributions were enough to fill an entire bus.

“We were overwhelmed by the response our toy drives received this year,” says Amy Smiley, vice president of marketing at 84 Lumber. “We were able to think of some unique ways to encourage more participation and get people excited about donating. We’re honored to play a small role in making the holidays a little brighter for children in need.”

This year marked the 15th Stuff-A-Bus campaign for 96.1 KISS. A record 60 buses were filled from Nov. 26–30, surpassing a record of 59 buses last year.