Pack the Bus

By Kaylee Schuermann

From now until April 11, Warrior Women in Leadership (WWiL) and Crisis Intervention will be collecting donations for survivors going through Crisis Intervention.

This initiative, called Pack the Bus, gathers donations ranging from household supplies to soaps, paper products, pet food, vitamins, and hot foods.

Mackinze Thill and Nikki Adolphson, members of WWiL, worked together to start this project after the idea was brought to them by Sharese Hall, a member of a local vocation and service committee that came up with the general idea.

Following this, they decided they wanted to work with Crisis Intervention for this project. They are being assisted by a representative that works on campus that helps answer any questions Thill and Adolphson may have about what should be donated.

To start, they had to gather boxes and spread the word to the Waldorf and Forest City communities.

After this, they put the boxes areas around campus, including the Atrium, dorms, and library. They even placed supply boxes in the community, such as the YMCA, Forest City Municipal Library, and Immanuel Church.

Thill and Adolphson continued by putting up flyers everywhere on campus and having weekly emails sent out to the student body.

So far, the two of them have gathered a lot of supplies for the people who are trying to get a brand new start through Crisis Intervention and for the survivors of sex trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

Thill explained the hardest part about executing the project was getting the word out to the community and continuously encouraging everyone to participate and donate for the project.

Hall thought the hardest part of the project was getting it off the ground, since there are many things going on in the community and everyone is very busy.

Despite these struggles, Thill and Hall are really enjoying the project.

“My favorite part of the project is seeing how well people are responding to it and are interested in receiving more information about the project,” Thill said.

“I know these ladies,” Sharese said. “I know them from Crisis Intervention and I know that they work very closely with clients daily and I know some of the circumstances that their clients are under are tragic, so the fact that we will be helping people out is a good feeling.”