- April 17, 2024
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by: Kim Medley
Publicity/Social Media, American Association of University Women – Flagler Branch
As Black History Month ended, AAUW Flagler Board members received welcomed news from its S.T.U.F.F. Bus Chair, Haydee Bernal. What is S.T.U.F.F. Bus? Supplying Things U Find Fundamental is a critical program, founded by the Flagler County Education Foundation, which provides essential supplies and clothing to students in families experiencing economic difficulties. Since 2012, AAUW Flagler has organized monthly donation campaigns to meet the needs of Flagler County students. Upon assuming her duties as S.T.U.F.F. Bus Chair, and in addition to her tasks as Co-Secretary, Ms. Bernal sought to expand the program’s potential, and according to AAUW Co-President Martha Butler, Haydee Bernal is taking it to “the next level.”
Haydee Bernal recognized the need for essential goods within our community and as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, her personal experience motivated her to steer the program in a direction that addressed the needs of female and male students. Channeling the activist legacy of her late “Afro-Latino mother,” a woman who marched with Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the Civil Rights Movement, Ms. Bernal challenged AAUW Flagler members to become positive role models and teach the next generation to become leaders by promoting racial diversity and equality. As Haydee recalls her childhood, one which included growing up “on the west side of Harlem, NYC., during the height of the crack epidemic” and only steps away from the famous Apollo Theater and The Cotton Club, she describes her desire to “make it out” of that environment and can now describe it as a “humbling experience.” She persisted!
Ms. Bernal applied her tenacity and trailblazing abilities to the S.T.U.F.F. Bus program by adding new routes for donations, including Palm Coast Target and locally African American owned businesses, Toney’s Barbershop of Palm Coast and Yonette’s Beauty Den of Bunnell. Target graciously donated hair care and personal hygiene products for girls and boys while Toney’s and Yonette’s provided gift certificates for complimentary hair cuts and one-hour facials. Having mapped out her new routes, she added a new stop, the First Annual Black History Month S.T.U.F.F. Bus Campaign for AAUW Flagler.
Haydee Bernal coordinated the campaign with Flagler County schools. Students were then nominated by each school’s administration. Eight winners, a girl and boy from each school, were recently announced, and Ms. Bernal is already looking forward to next year’s campaign and plans to make it “bigger and better.” Describing it as, “one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” Ms. Bernal could see the smiles on the students’ faces, “even beyond their masks.”
The newest stop along her bus route is the First Annual S.T.U.F.F. Bus Breakfast Students With Amazing Goals Campaign, S.W.A.G. for short. As Bernal observes, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” providing maximum operating capacity for our brains; yet she asks, how can we expect students “to excel if they are hungry and cannot concentrate?” Bunnell Elementary was the first school to benefit from Haydee Bernal’s vision and numerous donations of breakfast items, an inventory which included 216 boxed breakfast items ranging from Frosted Flakes, breakfast biscuits, granola bars, and an orchard of juice boxes.
Haydee Bernal is excited about drawing attention to AAUW and its support of the S.T.U.F.F. Bus program. She anticipates adding more campaigns. In the meantime, donations can be made by contacting AAUW Flagler at [email protected] or monetary donations may be made through its website: STUFF Bus Donations.
