To understand what was so special about this year’s Back to School Bash in Casper, you have to go back. That’s usually how it goes, isn’t it? Before there’s a playground filled with families and nineteen different partners, there are two friends lamenting together.
That story starts in January 2025. News of drastic Federal budget cuts was streaming out of Washington DC. There were a lot of rumors, but it was clear that many Casper neighbors would be affected—through lost jobs, disappearing benefits or the shuttering of programs that kept them going. Somebody needed to do something, so why not them?
The two friends left the coffee meeting and put up a Facebook post proposing a local activist and mutual aid group. Their message, essentially, was, “We’ve never done this before, but somebody needs to fill in the gap.” Seven neighbors came to their first meeting. The ball started rolling with rallies and food drives. By the fall, the newly inaugurated Casper Unity and Solidarity Project had about 35 members.
There was a back to school event that year, a chance to share clothes and supplies with neighbors who needed them. It wasn’t unsuccessful but it was exhausting. Their small but mighty crew did everything and agreed afterwards that they really needed a break.
The CUSP members took that break, but then kept showing up. At times they wondered whether they were only thought of in town as “that group that does protests”, but as they persisted, so too did they deepen and strengthen their bonds with other community organizations.
That context is important to realize just how incredible it must have felt to watch nearly 300 neighbors show up at Matthew Campfield Park on August 15th for this year’s Back To School Bash. They came, in spite of the heat, to pick up backpacks, lunch boxes and school supplies, to sift through hundreds of used and new outfits for the perfect new school year fit, and to laugh and talk together over plates of pastries, eggs and gatorades.
Casperites showed up because CUSP has shown up for the community time and time again. They showed up because this event was truly a team effort—a showcase of a year of relationship building with partner organizations. It’s worth listing all of this year’s partners, not just because they deserve recognition, but because the length and breadth of the list speaks volumes to what it means to work in community.
Parents as Teachers (official co-host)
Mercer House Family Resources
Gear Up Wyoming
Casper Pride
The Mental Health Hub
Wyoming Education Association
Interfaith
CLIMB Wyoming
Walmart Vision Center
Boys and Girls Club of Central Wyoming
YMCA
Jr ROTC (with an obstacle course!)
Wyoming Food for Thought Project
Central Wyoming Trails Alliance (also with an obstacle course AND a free raffle ticket for anyone who participated to enter to win a free bike!!!)
Chamber of Mothers
Bookin’ It
Natrona County Public Library with their bookmobile
Urban Thistle and Farm (they had free Halloween costumes!)
Natrona County Suicide Prevention Task Force
That’s what a village looks like. Partners coming together, beaming as kids emerged from the clothing displays with a first day outfit that perfectly matches their style. Meeting neighbors for the first time at the raffle table or the food line. Already making plans again for next year.
The 2026 Casper Back To School Bash was on a whole new level from the previous installment. It had far more attendees, far more partners, and also took far more work. It was a long, exhausting day to get everything set up, followed by multiple days of take down and clean up. But this year, instead of being completely wiped, CUSP members can’t stop talking about what comes next. Something about this year—seeing how embedded they are in their community, seeing how other organizations have their back—has left them not drained but energized.
Sometimes two friends console each other at a coffee shop and nothing comes of it. It takes a lot to take the first step, to write that vulnerable Facebook post. It takes even more to keep plugging along, to raise your hand for your community even when they don’t know what to make of you. There’s not always a guarantee that a year and a half later, there will be a playground filled with hundreds of neighbors. But that’s the thing about showing up for your city. You do it long enough and people start to trust you. They want to help you out. And then, before you know it, what you’ve built is far too big for a coffee shop table anymore.
WHAT DECLARATION/COMMITMENT CAME OUT OF THE EVENT?
A statement that sounds simple, but feels different when you learn it in practice.
“Together we can do more.”
AND WHAT WENT IN THE BOX?
Every partner organization put in stickers, as well as a flyer for the event. And also, the five-year-old son of one of the organizers wanted to put in seashells. “These need to go in too, mom,” he remarked matter-of-factly. Who are we to disagree?
