$75 raised by 2 donors
0% complete
$50,000 Goal
Help The Sun Bus Save Lives Through Free Skin Cancer Screenings
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in America and the most preventable. Yet thousands of Coloradans, in particular rural community members, have no access to dermatologists, no insurance coverage, or no ability to travel for care.
The Sun Bus is a mobile dermatology clinic and classroom that delivers free dermatology screenings, skin cancer detection, and sun-safety education to underserved communities across Colorado and beyond. In 2025 alone, we screened 2,041 people, identified 351 pre-cancers, and found 31 suspected melanomas, many in individuals who had never seen a dermatologist before.
This Giving Tuesday, your gift will help us acquire a second Sun Bus so we can reach twice as many people in 2026.
Saving Lives Through Early Detection
The Sun Bus brings the clinic to the community. Since 2019, The Sun Bus has provided more than 9,800 skin screenings, 45,000 community education interactions, 45,000 sunscreen samples distributed and detected:
1840 pre-skin cancers (Actinic Keratosis)
574 suspected non-melanoma skin cancers
101 suspected melanomas
Every screening is free. Every visit matters.
⭐ Why We Need Your Help
In 2025, demand for The Sun Bus has grown beyond what one bus can handle.
Colorado alone needed 832 screenings
Montana screenings revealed 11 suspected melanomas
Rural counties like Baca, Kit Carson, Weld, and Powers requested multiple visits
Healthcare professional programs at universities and schools need training opportunities
We simply cannot reach all communities with no government and state support or with one vehicle.
This Giving Tuesday, you can help us raise funds for our 2026 tour, or purchase a replacement for our aging generator, or acquire a second Sun Bus, allowing us to serve:
twice as many rural communities
twice as many underserved communities
twice as many first-time screening patients
twice as many students in healthcare profession track
⭐ A Story Your Gift Makes Possible
In 2025, a woman stepped onto The Sun Bus after noticing a changing mole. Our team identified a suspected melanoma, a potentially life saving catch. She later shared that she had never been able to afford a dermatology visit.
Stories like hers happen every week.
Your gift ensures no one is left behind because of geography, income, or lack of access.
⭐ What Your Donation Supports
Free dermatology screenings
UV facial skin imaging
Skin cancer detection
Skin care and Sun safety education and personalized consultation
Skin cancer and sun safety printed material
Training for future healthcare providers
Travel to rural, frontier, and underserved communities
Your support saves lives — literally.
⭐ Impact-Based Giving Levels
$25 — Sun Safety Champion: Provides sunscreen, educational materials and UV facial skin analysis for 5 families.
$50 — Free Skin Check for One Person: Covers a full professional screening in an underserved community.
$100 — Early Detection Partner: Covers a full professional screening of a couple or a family member
$250 — Community Health Builder: Helps fund a rural health fair (screening supplies, imaging, materials).
$500 — Student Training Sponsor: Trains medical and PA students in hands-on dermatology screening.
$1,000 — Fuel the Bus: Covers fuel and travel for 2 rural county Colorado outreach days.
$3,000 — Rural Access Hero: Brings the bus to a frontier community where local dermatology care does not exist.
$5,000 — Second Bus Founder Level: Helps us acquire a second Sun Bus to double our lifesaving reach.
$10,000 — Corporate / Foundation Partner: Funds an entire community event with free education, screenings, and imaging.
$30,000 — Corporate / Foundation Light: Funds the replacement of our aging generator on the bus.
$50,000 — Corporate / Foundation Tour Partner: Funds to help with acquiring a sprinter van to serve communities when the bus is away or in maintenance.
"My Family's experience with The Sun Bus was great. The whole family was screened by Dr. Haar and he talked and explained everything he discovered. He gave suggestions on how to prevent further sun damage. It was a great experience for my whole family and provided peace of mind regarding skin cancer and prevention care"- Amy Vlasity
“I couldn’t afford a skin check for years. The Sun Bus found five precancerous spots and changed my life.”— 2025 Colorado participant
“I have never used sunscreen in my life. Today I learned why I should.”— 2025 Texas participant (Lubbock)
“It caught a skin cancer I would never have seen.”— 2024 Colorado participant
For more testimonials visit our website at www.thesunbus.org or at https://greatnonprofits.org/org/the-sun-bus?badge=1
The Colorado Melanoma Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization doing business as (DBA) The Sun Bus. The Sun Bus is a mobile dermatology clinic with a mission is to reduce the burden of skin diseases, including cancer, through effective screening, education, and research programs.
The Colorado Melanoma Foundation was established in July 2013 as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
In May 2019, our foundation launched The Sun Bus, a mobile dermatology clinic and classroom created through collaboration among volunteers in dermatology research, clinical care, public health, nursing, and law. Since then, The Sun Bus has become a recognized community and national resource for skin health. To date, we have provided over 9,800 free screenings by volunteer providers, distributed more than 50,000 EltaMD sunscreen and 6,000 Heliocare samples from Ferndale Healthcare. The Sun Bus also provided free sun safety and skin cancer education to more than 45,000 people.
Together, with our supporters, we are raising awareness, improving access, and preventing skin cancer. Every gift helps us prevent skin cancer and save lives.
Organization name
The Sun Bus Saves Your Skin
other names
Colorado Melanoma Foundation
2019
Tax id (EIN)
30-0804902
Category
Health Care
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
3124 S Parker Rd, Suite A2-145Arapahoe County, CO, US
Grand Junction, CO, US
Durango, CO, US
Adams County, CO, US
CO, US