Five Good Things: Donating time, money, and food

Trucking Cares Foundation, Tennessee Trucking donate $10,000 for car seats

The Trucking Cares Foundation and the Tennessee Trucking Foundation each donated $5,000 to help purchase car seats for Tennessee parents and guardians who cannot afford them. For the second straight year, the combined $10,000 donation to the Ollie Otter Booster Seat and Seat Belt Safety Program will provide up to 200 car seats or booster seats to Tennessee children.

Some of the car seats purchased by TCF and TTF were given to eligible families at an event held last month at the 2024 Community Safety Fest in Bradley County, Tennessee. The event included car seat safety checks and other safety awareness programs.

“Whenever Tennessee parents hit the road, we want them to be able to have the peace of mind that their most precious cargo—their child—is properly buckled in,” John Lynch, president of the Trucking Cares Foundation, said. “Through this donation, we hope to make children safer by replacing old, damaged, or ill-fitting car seats. We are proud to partner with the Ollie Otter program, which can help parents and caregivers break through the confusion of seatbelt configurations and properly match the best car seat or booster seat with their child. This mission aligns with the Trucking Cares Foundation’s objective to harness the power of the ATA Federation to help others while also promoting highway safety.”

The TN Highway Safety Office has organized a network of Fitting Stations to provide education and guidance on correct car seat fit and installation so caregivers can feel confident that they are keeping their kids safe as they travel. The funds donated to the Ollie Otter Child Safety Foundation provide those Fitting Stations and trained child passenger safety technicians (CPSTs) the ability to replace car seats that are dangerous or don't fit the child well. In some cases, CPSTs provide a seat to a child who doesn't have a seat at all.

Lily Transportation, Salvation Army deliver Thanksgiving meals to local veterans 

Despite the rainy conditions, there were high spirits on November 23 from the Lily Transportation volunteers who partnered with the Salvation Army to deliver turkeys at VA Boston Healthcare System’s annual turkey drive at the Jamaica Plain VA campus in Boston.

Lily and the Salvation Army joined forces with VA Boston in 2020 to provide more than 100 Thanksgiving meals to veterans and families facing food insecurity in the local area. This year the group delivered three times as many meals over two days.

“We’ve had a partnership here with Salvation Army and the VA for a few years, and it’s very fulfilling for all of us,” said Mike Stanton, SVP of operations and compliance and a veteran himself. 

The week of the event, Lily positioned two 18-wheeler freezer trucks to keep the turkeys and fixings fresh. Stanton’s team, which included some veteran volunteers, coordinated the pickup, sorting, and delivery of food to the two distribution sites.

Advantage Truck Group distributes thousands of meals to local food pantries

From December 12-23, Advantage Truck Group will deliver thousands of meals to 15 food pantry organizations across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, as it continues its year-round effort to fight food insecurity in its local communities through its Haulin’ 4 Hunger donations. 

Since its inception in 2012, ATG’s Haulin’ 4 Hunger program has provided more than 80,000 meals and counting to help those in need. 

“We’re grateful to our employees, customers, and business partners for their continued commitment to helping people experiencing food insecurity. Their support reflects the power of coming together to do good in our communities,” Kevin G. Holmes, ATG president and CEO, said.  

On December 12, ATG employees, customers, and business partners led two caravans of trucks to hand-deliver 4,400 meals of fresh turkey with all the trimmings to eight food pantry organizations in Worcester and other Central Massachusetts communities. The annual Haulin’ 4 Hunger donation of fresh turkey meals will be made to Boys & Girls Club of Worcester, Friendly House, Jeremiah’s Inn, Marlborough Community Cupboard, South Worcester Neighborhood Center, St. Anne’s Human Services, Veterans Inc., and Westborough Food Pantry.

From December 13-23, ATG will deliver nearly 3,000 nonperishable meals as it makes its fourth-quarter Haulin’ 4 Hunger donation to seven community food pantry organizations near ATG dealerships in Southeastern and Western Massachusetts, and in New Hampshire and Vermont. Non-perishable meals of canned chicken, ramen noodles, stuffing, canned peas, and a dessert will be donated to Families in Transition, Lancaster Food Pantry, LISTEN Food Pantry, Our Community Table, Our Place Drop-In Center, Raynham Food Basket, and Seabrook Food Pantry. With this donation, ATG will reach more than 12,000 non-perishable meals donated through Haulin’ 4 Hunger this year.

See also: Diesel dips below $3.50; gas flirts with sub-$3 for first time since 2021

Truck driver named TCA Highway Angel for feeding hundreds during Hurricane Helene aftermath

The Truckload Carriers Association has named truck driver Andrew Inlow, from Booneville, Mississippi, a TCA Highway Angel for helping feed hundreds in the Asheville, North Carolina, area during the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Inlow works for Maverick Transportation out of North Little Rock, Arkansas.

On September 27, Inlow and several other truck drivers began helping a community with supplies, food, and water while all were stranded in Candler, North Carolina, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Inlow and the other truck drivers were parked at the TA Truck Stop in Candler, North Carolina, right outside Asheville. With no cell phone reception, roads closed, no power, and no stores open nearby, the truck drivers had to come up with a creative way to eat.

“We had a driver who was delivering hamburgers to restaurants in the area, so he actually opened up his unit and pulled out a box of hamburgers and started cooking for all the truck drivers,” Inlow said.

The next day, Inlow drove a group of the truck drivers into Asheville looking for food. When they arrived, they decided to buy another grill and start handing out food.

Inlow went door to door at a nearby hotel asking guests if they needed food. One of the guests, Dianna Sains, who was en route helping her son, daughter-in-law, and young grandchildren move across the country, overheard another driver talking about the potential food. She and her family were stranded at the Days Inn motel with no power.

“They had no food and no real water for almost three days,” Inman said. As a result, Sains came to the TA Truck Stop and connected with Inlow, who ensured her family was taken care of.

Inlow also bought chips, snacks, and drinks from the TA for the others, spending about $1,000 of his own money.

“I hardly ate,” Inlow said. “I actually had drivers that I had become friends with who forced me to eat because my mind was on everybody else.”

In all, he thinks he and the other truck drivers fed about 150 stranded people over the four and a half days they were in the Asheville area.

“I always tried to stay on the positive side, because there’s no reason to be negative and cause anybody to be negative,” Inlow said. “I just did what anybody else should do.”

Pilot donates to Folds of Honor

Pilot is funding scholarships for the next generation of professional truck drivers in honor of Giving Tuesday. The $50,000 donation to Folds of Honor, a nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of military members and first responders who have fallen or been disabled while serving their country and communities, will go toward scholarships for recipients seeking to obtain a commercial driver's license.

"It's an honor for Pilot to continue to celebrate and honor the incredible heroes across our country—the truck drivers who safely put millions of miles on our highways to keep us going and our service members, first responders, and their families who sacrifice so much for our nation," Wendy Hamilton, chief of staff at Pilot, said. "Giving back to the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and the communities we serve, especially through education, is a small way to show our gratitude and support their future. We look forward to seeing more truck drivers out here and are thankful for the work done through Folds of Honor and their scholarship programs."

Since its inception in 2007, Folds of Honor has awarded more than 62,000 academic scholarships totaling about $290 million in all 50 states. The $50,000 donation from Pilot will provide Folds of Honor with resources to further support the education of the spouses and children of fallen or disabled military personnel and first responders across the country.