EquipmentShare’s Back to School Buckets Program Helps Kids Get a Fresh Start

When Brian Simmons was promoted to general manager of EquipmentShare’s branch in Carlsbad, New Mexico, one of his first decisions was to sign up for the company’s Back to School Buckets program. It was an opportunity to help children in his community get the school year off to a great start.

“It’s important because there are so many kids who need help,” Simmons said. “Everything we can do to help people in need, I think it’s a great thing.”

Back to School Buckets is EquipmentShare’s annual school-supplies drive. Here’s how it works:

• Branches spend a portion of their Giving Back budget to receive backpacks and other items.
• They display the supplies in a bucket attachment at their branch and invite customers and employees to contribute. 
• Then they donate those supplies to the local schools of their choice before the school year starts.

This year, more than 150 EquipmentShare branches nationwide participated in Back to School Buckets, donating tens of thousands of dollars worth of supplies.

In Carlsbad, the team chose to support the Early Childhood Education Center, which serves kindergarten and pre-K students. Several team members chipped in to supplement the branch’s supply of backpacks, and Territory Account Manager Klair Lopez truly went above and beyond. She did an online search for the supplies young students in the Carlsbad School District needed and then went on a shopping spree, filling her cart with pencil boxes, glue sticks, crayons and much more.

“Growing up, I saw how hard my parents worked to provide what we needed, and I know things like school supplies and clothing aren’t things every family can afford,” Lopez said. “Being able to give back to the children and the community through Back to School Buckets is meaningful to me because I know what that kind of support can mean. Every child deserves to start the school year feeling prepared, confident and cared for.”

Back to School Buckets is one piece of EquipmentShare’s larger community-engagement mission to improve the communities we call home. Other initiatives include:

• Giving Back Week: During National Volunteer Week each April, employees are encouraged to spend at least two of their 16 annual hours volunteering in their communities.
• Buckets of Joy: During the holiday season, branches donate coats and food to community organizations. 
• The TELEHERO® Program: Participating branches designate one patriotically wrapped telehandler as its TELEHERO and donate 10% or its annual rental revenue to a local nonprofit veterans organization.

It adds up to a culture of community engagement at EquipmentShare that is contagious. Teams participating Back to School Buckets represented a wide spectrum of EquipmentShare’s services, including Core Solutions (aerial, earthmoving and material handling equipment), Advanced Solutions (power, pumps and climate control), Tooling Solutions (trade-specific tools, PPE and tool trailers), Vehicle Solutions (pickup trucks, passenger vans and Teslas), Containers (connex boxes, fluid tanks and fuel cells), Forge & Build (building materials, hardware and tools) and retail dealerships. 

Marilyn Nichols, the assistant general manager of EquipmentShare’s Case Power & Equipment Florida dealership in Tampa, led her branch’s Back to School Buckets efforts. Her team provided supplies to Palm River Elementary School in Tampa.

“We work for a company that wants to make the community better, so I definitely want to make sure we participate,” Nichols said. “We want to do our part to spread the love.”

— Learn more about EquipmentShare’s culture of giving back.