The North Royalton High School football team held the 10th Annual Coats for Kids Stuff the Bus event on Saturday, November 23, from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. North Royalton residents, friends and neighbors brought new or like-new winter coats and cash donations to the North Royalton Board of Education parking lot at 6579 Royalton Road. The players carried on the decade-long tradition of “stuffing” a North Royalton school bus with coats which will be transferred to Coats for Kids and redistributed to children in need in northeast Ohio.
Football players and their parents were on hand to accept them. With Stuff the Bus “drive and drop” operation, donors did not have to leave their vehicle to make a donation of coats or cash.
“The North Royalton High School football program and school district have carried the torch for the Stuff the Bus event for ten years,” said Ann Gurin, Coats for Kids marketing coordinator. “We are so grateful for the players’ and district’s dedication to our cause. In the last five years alone, the team has raised nearly $13,500 and collected more than 2,500 coats. We extend huge, heartfelt thanks to Pat and Silvia Palmiero, and their son, Raimo, a senior, for leading the drive this year.” This year the program collected 679 coats and $2,546.55 in cash.
Several local businesses were food sponsors for this year’s event. Zeppe’s Pizza in North Royalton delivered sheet pizzas for volunteers on Saturday afternoon. Becker’s Donuts provided donuts for the volunteers’ breakfast.