The Iowa State Daily hosted the ninth annual Stuff the Bus last weekend, a two-day food drive collaboration between ISU students and CyRide.

“It was really awesome because we had a lot of people come and thank us for doing what we’re doing,” said Jolie Monroe, ISD public relations student manager. “We had a lot of helpful volunteers that came to help out.”

The buses were parked at six locations throughout Ames with the intention of being “stuffed” with nonperishable food items. The drive was intended to raise donations for Mid-Iowa Community Action, Inc., a private nonprofit that serves families of central Iowa that are affected by poverty.

“I was really surprised at how much people were giving,” said Alyse Messa, freshman in kinesiology and health, who helped out at the downtown Fareway. “I’m glad to say that I can help with something that can make a difference for families in Ames.”

More than 130 volunteers staffed the buses parked at Lincoln Center Hy-Vee, West Hy-Vee, Dahl’s, Sam’s Club, downtown Fareway and North Fareway. The event ended with the volunteers caravaning to the MICA office and proceeded to unload six buses packed with donations and earned roughly $3,300 in monetary donations.

“We got quite a bit more this year than last year, both monetary donations and canned goods,” Monroe said. “It seemed that people were being really generous this year.”

Many people came to the grocery stores just to donate food, Monroe said, and the whole operation was executed seamlessly. Next year, she plans to keep the stores from this year, but may be adding more.