Skip Directly to Page Content

AVTA Ringing In Holiday Cheer with the 2022 Stuff-a-Bus Toy Drive for Kids



AVTA Ringing In Holiday Cheer with "Stuff-a-Bus" Toy Drive for Kids
                                                                                                                                
Beginning Monday, November 21st and continuing through Monday December 12th, the Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA) Stuff-a-Bus Holiday Toy Drive will be holding its annual collection of toys and clothing for the AV community's children in need.

Santa's helpers will be heard chanting "Stuff That Bus!" and ringing their bells to make sure the children and families they serve have a much brighter holiday season. Each year the AVTA Stuff-a-Bus Holiday Toy Drive collects donations of new unwrapped toys, clothing, and gifts for children ages 0-18.

For more than 28 years, this annual event has brought joy to the hearts of local children in need during the holidays by collecting enough toys and clothes to fill their specially decorated all-electric 40-foot bus to the roof. There will be four Stuff-a-Bus collection event opportunities to this year, beginning with the BLVD Small Business Saturday on November 26 on Lancaster Blvd from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., then the West Palmdale Walmart on Sunday, December 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., then A Magical BLVD Christmas on Saturday December 10 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and finally the West Lancaster Walmart on Sunday, December 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A Stuff-a-Bus donation box is also located at the AVTA office in Lancaster.

AVTA works with local charities to collect and distribute all toy and gift donations. Participating 2022 charities are the Children’s Bureau, Antelope Valley Partners for Health, the Child and Family Guidance Center, JustServe, Valley Oasis, the Boys & Girls Club of the Antelope Valley, and the South Antelope Valley Emergency Services of Palmdale (SAVES).

One hundred percent of donations will be distributed at the Holiday Drive-Thru Grocery and Toy Giveaway at AVTA on December 17th, 2022. No Sign up is necessary and the event is open to all Antelope Valley Residents. Local families will receive Christmas meal supplies in addition to toys and gifts for their children. AVTA’s goal is to provide Christmas meals to the families of the Antelope Valley as well as to the patrons of our Stuff-A-Bus participating charities. 

Many local businesses helped AVTA to raise more than $25,000 to help purchase toys and gifts for the holiday drive.

"The generosity of our major sponsors, such as Duke Engineering, BYD Motors, WAVE/Ideanomics, Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association, MCI/New Flyer, Toneman Development, RentSource, Complete Coach Works, Mission Bank, Vinsa Insurance Associates, OpSec Security, and High Desert Medical Group, make a huge impact in the lives of many local families," said AVTA Board Chairman Marvin Crist. "We also want to thank DP Commercial Brokerages, Bayshore Consulting Group, Avail Technologies, AVEDGE, Kaiser Permanente, the Weideman Group, and MV Transportation, whose contributions help make AVTA’s Stuff-a-Bus a huge success."


"AVTA is committed to partnering with the community each holiday season, bringing joy to those in need," continued Chairman Crist. "The key to our success is our staff, volunteers, local residents, and sponsors, all working together with the goal of helping kids."

AVTA provides local, commuter and dial-a-ride service to a population of more than 475,000 residents in the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale as well as the unincorporated portions of northern Los Angeles County. Its total service area covers 1,200 square miles and it is bounded by the Kern County line to the north, the San Bernardino County line to the east, the Angeles National Forest to the south, and Interstate 5 to the West.