Show Hope's Red Bus Project Tour Kicks Off This Spring

By Eric Mar 14, 2014 01:20 AM EDT

Show Hope^TM is excited announce the next tour of the Red Bus Project. Hitting colleges throughout the midwest and southern regions, the Red Bus Project Spring 2014 Tour will kick off March 18 in east Tennessee and wrap April 30 in Indiana.

Beginning in 2012, the Red Bus Project was created to help mobilize college students to care for orphans while multiplying the impact they can have on the orphan crisis. By engaging the next generation of passionate leaders in adoption and orphan care, Show Hope wants to encourage these students to join them in restoring the hope of a family to orphans in distress.

The Red Bus Project Tour, now readying for its 4th leg, starts out with a visit to colleges across the U.S. from a double-decker-bus-turned-rolling-thrift-store that never fails to make a fun and unique splash on campus. On each college tour stop, the bus drives in and sets up in a central location on campus. With numerous helpers available to engage students and help direct them, alongside the double-decker bus tents are set up that house dressing rooms, cashier, information booth, merch booth and more. Groups are then formed on campus and become part of ongoing efforts to transform the lives of orphans.

Since its most recent tour last fall, the Red Bus has visited a total of 61 campuses and almost 200,000 students have been introduced to the Red Bus Project. To date, 12,679 students have joined the movement and more than 15,000 items of clothing have been donated to the thrift store.

When the Red Bus visited Nashville's Lipscomb University last fall, a staff administrator at the school shared, "Seeing how our students responded to the mission of the Red Bus was so gratifying. Beyond putting on one of the best events we've ever had on campus, I was thrilled to hear students talking about how they wanted to do more to help the needy and less fortunate. The impact on campus is still reverberating several weeks after you guys left."

A student from Union University, who is also a Red Bus Project campus group leader, said, "It was truly moving to see so many people interested in ways they could help the orphaned as well as taking the time to give to families in need. I cannot wait to see how the Union students continue that interest and heart to speak out on behalf of the orphaned."

And it doesn't stop there. The Red Bus Project has future plans that includes events and training seminars designed to engage students who have a deeper interest and specific burden in helping shed light on this crisis while engaging their peers to actively respond. These events will be designed to help students use their gifts and passions to create their own "Red Bus" and continue to engage in the global orphan crisis.

The Red Bus Project kicks off March 18th in east Tennessee and wraps April 30 in Indiana. Tour dates are listed below, but please visit RedBusProject.org for the most updated tour dates and information and how to get involved.

Spring 2014 Red Bus Tour Dates:

3/18 - E. Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN
3/24 - Austin Peay University in Clarksville, TN
3/25 - Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL
3/26 - Webster University in St. Louis, MO
3/27 - Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis, MO
3/31 - MidAmerica Nazarene in Olathe, KS
4/1 - University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS
4/2 - Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS
4/3 - Washburn University in Topeka, KS
4/4 - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, KS
4/9 - Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO
4/11 - Murray State in Murray, KY
4/22 - University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, IN
4/23 - Indiana State in Terre Haute, IN
4/24 - Illinoise State University in Normal, IL
4/25 - Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL
4/28 - Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
4/29 - Notre Dame University in Notre Dame, IN
4/30 - Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN