8-18-2026 4:19am

4th School Drive

Hunt Valley Life Staff

Mission Moment: Another successful Stuff the Bus event

Hundreds of community members turn out to support BCPS students

By Team BCPS

Stuff the bus times three!

On August 15, The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools, Inc., held its fourth annual Stuff the Bus event at the Walmart Supercenter in Cockeysville.

In just four hours, more than 250 community members donated more than $20,000 worth of school supplies and materials and stuffed not one, not two, but three BCPS buses to help us kick off the 2026-2027 school year.

“We are ecstatic!” said Dr. Heather Wooldridge, director of the foundation and grants for BCPS. “All of these generous donations will go directly onto the shelves at our two Exchangerees (educator resource centers where teachers shop at no cost to themselves all year long). BCPS teachers will be so happy and grateful to be able to select pens, pencils, filler paper, pocket folders, and so much more for their students and classrooms for free!”

Thank you, partners!

This event would not have been possible without two major partners: Walmart and Media Star Promotions.

Walmart Store Manager Kristy Burton and Walmart Vision Center Manager Jeremiah Beauvilet selected the date, did preliminary advertising, and gave the foundation full reign to set up the outdoor space with tents, BCPS buses, cheerleaders, a pep band, and more than 60 volunteers.

Media Star Promotions organized the donation stations, tent city where donations were sorted, balloon towers, and a one-of-a-kind photobooth made to look like a school bus!

Walmart and Media Star Promotions also kicked off the donations. Walmart awarded the foundation a $2,500 grant to support the event, and Media Star Promotions matched the grant! The day before the event, staff from Walmart and Media Star Promotions worked together to collect and purchase more than $5,000 worth of supplies to stuff the buses with the following morning.

Thank you, donors!

On Saturday, donations came in from local businesses that had conducted Tools for School Drives, parents of graduates of BCPS who miss back to school shopping, individuals who work with our students in other capacities who wanted to support the cause, students who earned community service hours for soliciting donations for the event, and many, many other kind-hearted Champions of Education. Thank you, all!

Thank you, Stuff the Bus Committee!

An event of this scale requires a lot of planning, organization, and teamwork. It is only as successful as its committee. Thank you to the stellar Stuff the Bus 2026 committee who made this event possible and so successful!

The Stuff the Bus Committee

Jeremiah Beauvilet, Walmart’s Vision Center
Kristy Burton, Walmart
Dave Colom, BCPS Logistics
Jen Drury, BCPS Copy & Print
Nancy Hofmann, Compass Realty
Kristin Huber, Financial Council
Paul Hume, G.W.W.O. Architects
Cindy Jones, First Financial Federal Credit Union
Carin Lazarus, Media Star Promotions
Carrie O’Meara, Media Star Promotions
Joan Pugh, First Financial Federal Credit Union
Megan Rodgville
Cindy Whitcomb, The Education Foundation of BCPS
Dr. Heather Wooldridge, The Education Foundation of BCPS

Thank you, volunteers!

An event like Stuff the Bus would not be possible without the time, talent, and treasure shared by our volunteers. Thank you, volunteers!

This year, more than 60 volunteers came out to support the event including foundation Board Members and colleagues from their businesses, Community School Facilitators, Raven’s Roost 52, Girls On The Run, Boy Scouts of America, New Town High School’s AVID program, staff from vendors who serve BCPS, and so many other areas of our community. They say “it takes a village,” and our village showed up in full force on Saturday. Thank you, all!

The need continues

The need for school supplies does not end once students go back to school. In fact, there is a need for school supplies all year long. Community members can help us keep Exchangeree shelves stocked throughout the year. Visit our website to learn more and/or read on!

The Education Foundation | Highlights

The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools, Inc., was founded on October 26, 1992, as the official 501 (c) (3) nonprofit for Baltimore County Public Schools. The foundation is on a mission to contribute to a brighter future as a champion of the system and community through advocacy, fundraising, and programming. We believe that together, with our community partners, we can ensure that every student, educator, and school community has the resources necessary to reach their full potential.

BCPS is the 22nd largest school system in the nation with 108,000 students and 8,000 educators in 174 schools, centers, and programs. Our students and their families come from 138 countries and speak more than 150 languages. The racial breakdown of our students follows: 40% are African American; 29% are white; 18% are Hispanic/Latino; 7% are Asian; 5% are more than one race; <1% are American Indian; and <1% are Pacific Islander. More than 50% of our students come from lower socioeconomic families, and 15% require special education services.

Since 2010, the foundation has provided 987 scholarships for graduating seniors for a total of $798,095. Since 2012, the foundation has awarded 743 school and office-based grants and special projects to enhance the regular curricula for a total of $1,540,315. Since 2018, the foundation has operated two educator resource centers (the Exchangerees) where teachers shop for school supplies, books, winter accessories and more, at no cost to them. The Exchangerees have served 20,705 educators and 540,310 students, shared 102,036 books, and distributed $4,789,503 worth of resources and materials into our school communities.

Visit our website for more information.