DANVILLE — The Salvation Army and Project Success are asking the public to help get children ready for school.

Project Success is organizing its third annual Fill-a-Bus-ter school supply campaign, while members of the board of directors at the Salvation Army plan to collect "Socks and Skivvies."

This year's school supply collection kicked off last week at a Danville Dans game.

Bins for dropping off school supplies will go out to local businesses this week, and the organizations will attempt to fill a CRIS Healthy Aging Center bus with items for qualifying families.

Sharon Sawka, social services coordinator at the Salvation Army, said 688 children were given assistance last year through the school supply drive.

Six hundred received a backpack and a basic set of school supplies. The rest of the children were given as many items as the agency still had available, but with no backpack.

"We had people coming to us for two weeks after last year's distribution date still needing help," Sawka said. "We pulled together whatever we could do to assist them."

The bus to collect supplies will stay in one location this year.

"Last year, we moved the bus around to several locations during the school supply drive," said Alice Kirby, Project Success executive director. "We were able to fill the bus about two-thirds of the way full. We hope by staying in one place, it will make it easier for people to find us."

The Fill-a-Bus-ter bus will park from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday in the Big Lots parking lot, 20 N. Gilbert St., to accept donations.

Some items that children need — sometimes as much as, if not more than, pens and pencils — as school starts are socks and underwear, teachers have told the Salvation Army.

After being made aware of the need, its board of directors has scheduled a special collection called "Socks and Skivvies."

The event is scheduled for 7 a.m. to noon July 30 during the Downtown Danville Farmers' Market, held in the lot in front of the Danville Public Library, 319 N. Vermilion St.

The board and other volunteers will accept socks plus undershirts and underpants in all sizes and colors for boys and girls, as well as tights and slips for girls.

The library will have a box at the checkout desk if anyone wants to drop off items in advance.

The Salvation Army has helped needy children of Vermilion County get ready for school since 1997 when roughly 100 children received assistance. The 2011 drive hopes to collect enough backpacks and full sets of school supplies to meet the needs of about 700 children.

Qualifying families will be able to pick up supplies Aug. 6 at the Salvation Army, 855 E. Fairchild St. To prove eligibility, families should bring proof of income and children's ages, as well as photo identification.

Items are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis that day until supplies are exhausted.

School supplies needed include: backpacks, slim folders with fasteners and pockets, packs of wide-line paper, No. 2 pencils, color markers, color pencils, blue or black pens, erasers, glue sticks, large bottles of white glue, pointed scissors, snub-nosed scissors, rulers, boxes of 24 crayons, boxes of tissues, supply boxes and spiral notebooks.

Bins for donations will also be available at the north and south McDonald's restaurants and County Markets and at Big Lots.