The familiar big yellow school buses soon will be filled with children on weekdays.

But first, local organizers hope they’ll be filled to the brim with donated supplies.

United Way of Forsyth County will have yellow buses parked in shopping areas again this year for its second annual “Stuff the Bus” supplies drive.

Donated items will go to The Place and the local school system, both of which will distribute them to children in need.

“Our hope is that if people are buying supplies for their own children, they’ll just buy a little extra and drop them on the bus,” said Melissa Corliss, organizer.

The drive kicked off July 24, but Corliss expects more supplies to be donated as back-to-school shopping picks up.

The buses will be parked outside two county Wal-Mart stores from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Aug. 7.

Last year’s drive took in more than 3,000 school supplies, which helped about 250 children, Corliss said.

The nonprofit has high hopes for collections this year, since needs have grown with the struggling economy.

“This is just another expense that sometimes it’s hard to come up with,” she said.

Some local businesses and civic groups have begun donating supplies, but the bus drive is an easy way to get the public more involved, she said.

A list of needed items can be found on the United Way’s Web site, but Corliss said some of the most sought-after supplies are those required for classes, such as backpacks, three-ring binders, folders with pockets and prongs, pens and pencils.

On the collection Saturdays, a bus driver will help donors load their supplies into the bus. That was something in which Corliss said her daughter enjoyed participating.

“She thought it was pretty cool to hand the bus driver her bag of supplies,” she said. “I think it’s a great thing to get kids involved and get different civic groups involved.”