Sometimes, agencies serving the needy in Barton and Pawnee counties need more than just cash. They need supplies.
Enter the United Way of Central Kansas’ “Stuff the Bus” campaign which starts Wednesday in Great Bend. There will be a school bus in the Wal-mart parking lot, 3503 10th in Great Bend, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“The premise of Stuff the Bus is to load a school bus with items our 21 member agencies need to serve the community,”  UWCK Executive Director Julie Bugner Smith said. “The United Way, partnering with school districts, businesses and others, wants the community to provide much needed items for our 21 agencies.”
Next month, the drive moves to other communities.
There will be a bus at ShopKo, 908 E. 14th in Larned, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at, on Thursday, Sept. 19. Stuff the Bus items can also be dropped off at the Ellinwood Sunflower Bank location through September with a portion of the donations going to flood victims there. 
The United Way is collecting:
• Blankets, stuffed animals
• Office supplies: copy paper, pens, tape, folders and binders, envelopes, notebooks, label tape for label machine, highlighters, white-out, legal pads, staples and paper clips, etc.
• Household items: paper towels, toilet paper, trash bags, facial tissue, laundry soap, cleaning supplies, sponges, comet, etc.
• Art/craft supplies: crayons, markers, construction paper, glue, child and adult scissors, glitter, acrylic paint, watercolors, poster board, stickers, Disposable dining ware: cups, paper or Styrofoam plates, paper napkins
• Toys: infant/toddler toys, preschool and school-age toys/games
• Baby supplies: diapers, wipes
• Travel size toiletries: soap, deodorant, cotton swabs, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner,
• New hygiene items: brushes, combs, toothbrushes
• Non-perishable snacks: drink boxes/juice packs, cracker packs, goldfish, fruit snacks
• Regular ground coffee
• Roller pads (for paint rollers), painters tape, brooms, dustpans, gardening gloves, canvas drop cloths. New home building materials
• Non perishable food and boys teen clothing,
• Skeins of yarn, regular and baby yarn - all colors
For more information, call Bugner-Smith at 620-792-2403 or go to uwck.org.