Stuff the Bus is one of our favorite times of year! It's when our community comes together to make sure that every child in Lincoln County can start the school year off with the supplies they need. While this year's Stuff the Bus initiative is complete, check out the highlights below!
Stuff the Bus 2026 Recap
Hundreds of families across our community will struggle with the back-to-school season, forced into deciding between paying their power bill or buying their child the supplies needed to thrive in school. As any parent knows, the start of school is more than just buying a new book bag. It’s paying for sports physicals, new jeans, pencils and pens, shoes for gym, markers for science class, calculators, recorders for music class, jackets, socks, erasers, headphones, tissues, and more. When budgets are already tight, back-to-school shopping can break many families’ thin margins.
To help shoulder this burden, United Way of Lincoln County teamed up with Atrium Health, Lincoln County Schools, and Denver Pediatric Dentistry to stuff the bus full of school supplies for families in need! Over 31 businesses and organizations across Lincoln County signed up to be donation sites, more than we've ever had before, and because of that, more donations than ever were brought in. To name just a few examples, Atrium Health collected 723.87 pounds of donations, and Timken's donations grew by more than 150% from last year!
This year's success meant that hundreds of kids were able to benefit from our back-to-school efforts! At West Fest alone, more than 280 kids were able to get school supplies and more than 140 received clothes to help get them through the school year. School supplies were also given out at several other back-to-school events across the county, like Love Lincolnton and Love Denver. Thanks to Stuff the Bus donations, more than 400 Lincoln County children and over 75 teachers can now start the 2026-2027 school year with confidence.
After all, every Lincoln County child deserves the chance to start the first day of school with their head held high, ready for success! Together, we can wrap our arms around the entire community, lifting up the children, families, and teachers in need to ensure that the next generation can put their best foot forward.
Thank You to the 2026 Sponsors
Atrium Health
Lincoln County Schools
Denver Pediatric Dentistry
Stuff the Bus 2025
Our Stuff the Bus event in 2025 brought in more supplies than ever before, and we're so grateful to our amazing community for coming together to do so! At the back-to-school events, the West ARC was able to help 135 children get new-to-them clothes, and the Central ARC has served over 200 during its shopping days, too. The donated school supplies were given out at West Zone, as well as in the Sunrise Community. Closing out Stuff the Bus 2025 were the Teacher Shop Days, where more than 75 teachers were able to get materials for their classrooms and help students who may not have the supplies that they need. Thank you to Atrium Health, HUBER Technology, Communities in School, and Lincoln County Schools for partnering with us for last year's event.
Become a Sponsor for Stuff the Bus
Businesses and organizations can always consider sponsoring any of the events UWLC puts on throughout the year, including Stuff the Bus. Sponsors help support endeavors to better our community, helping us reach more individuals in need and therefore helping our mission of improving the lives of everyone in Lincoln County.