Five Good Things: Supporting worthy causes

Averitt’s community service initiative donates toys to St. Jude for fifth consecutive year

Averitt associates and customers recently came together to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through an annual toy drive. Now in its fifth year, the effort has provided thousands of toys to brighten the days of children undergoing treatment at St. Jude.

The initiative, which began with Play-Doh and later expanded to coloring books, Hot Wheels, Barbie dolls, and other toys, continues to grow in impact. In 2023, associates and customers collected and donated 30,000 Hot Wheels. For 2024, the focus shifted to action figures and dolls, resulting in a donation of over 10,000 toys.

"Providing St. Jude with resources of their choosing based on the needs of the kids has been such a rewarding experience,” Jeff Edwards, regional VP of sales at Averitt, said. “We have found that not only do our associates rally behind these drives, but our customers do as well."

The toy drives are part of Averitt’s company-wide Team Up Community Challenge program. This year-round initiative encourages associates across Averitt’s network to participate in local service projects. The company honors its associates’ community service hours by making matching contributions to its non-profit charitable organization, Averitt Charities.

Customers have been instrumental in supporting the effort alongside Averitt associates and the local Louisville community. Each year, St. Jude provides guidance on the items most needed, ensuring the donations bring joy and comfort to children receiving care.

Carrier Transicold dealership donates installation of a trailer refrigeration unit to Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana

Crosspoint Power & Refrigeration, a Carrier Transicold dealership, is helping address hunger and food waste in the Indianapolis area by donating the installation of a new X4 7500 trailer refrigeration unit to Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana. Crosspoint Power & Refrigeration installed the unit on a 35-ft. trailer that entered service last month.

Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana partners with more than 300 pantries, shelters, senior centers, and other organizations to relieve hunger in 21 counties across central Indiana. Its fleet of trailers and box trucks also provides mobile pantry services for families and individuals who fall outside the reach of its network.

“Crosspoint Power & Refrigeration has regularly serviced our Carrier Transicold refrigeration units and allows us to distribute more than 55 million meals a year, including nearly 5 million meals through our mobile pantries,” Joe Slater, COO at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, said. “Almost 80% of the food we distribute is fresh produce, lean protein, dairy, or other perishables. Reliable temperature control and dependable transportation are essential in the movement to end hunger.”

Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana works with nearly 15,000 volunteers annually, including employees from Crosspoint Power & Refrigeration. The Carrier Transicold dealer’s newest facility is located across the street from Gleaners’ food bank and on-site pantry in Indianapolis.

The X4 7500 is the second Carrier Transicold refrigeration unit Crosspoint Power & Refrigeration has provided to Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana. In 2023, the dealer donated an X4 7300 unit for a 35-ft. trailer.

Truck driver named TCA Highway Angel for helping crash victims

The Truckload Carriers Association has named truck driver Tommy Burgoon from Wapakoneta, Ohio, a TCA Highway Angel for stopping to help during a horrific early morning crash in Ohio. Burgoon drives for ABF Freight out of Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Burgoon pulled up to the scene of a head-on collision between a car driving the wrong way and a semi traveling northbound on Interstate 471, next to exit 2, in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was around 1:30 in the morning.

“I came up on a wreck that just happened,” he said. “I’m pretty sure they were going 70 miles an hour driving straight into each other. I just know [the car] was on the wrong side of the highway and went head-on with that truck.”

Burgoon rushed out of his truck to the car that was on fire, helped extinguish the flames that were surrounding the driver’s feet, extinguished the remaining flames on the front of his car, cut the seat belt of the driver, and got him to safety with the help of first responders. The driver had serious injuries, including a severely hurt left arm and facial gashes.

“I got his seat belt undone, but I don’t think there would have been any way we could’ve pried him out of there,” the 10-year truck driver said. “He was in there pretty good.”

Burgoon said his Army training kicked in and that he was happy to stop and help because he would want someone else to do the same for a member of his family.

“You do what you can do,” he said. “There’s no way I could just leave him in there; it’s absurd to me to even think that.”

See also: Diesel, gas prices on the rise in 2025

CVSA now accepting applications for college scholarships

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is now accepting college scholarship applications from current high school seniors who will graduate this year and attend college in the fall for the 2025-2026 school year.

CVSA will award $5,000 college scholarships to two high school seniors based on the strength of their application and supporting materials, academic performance, volunteer work, community service, and extracurricular activities.

Applicants must be a legal dependent of a current CVSA member (board members excluded), have a minimum high school grade point average or equivalent of 3.0, and be a citizen or permanent legal resident of Canada, Mexico, or the U.S.

Candidates must apply via CVSA’s online college scholarship application form, which must include the required information, a high school transcript, two essays, and two letters of recommendation. All applications and corresponding documentation must be received by April 30. CVSA will announce the recipients of the college scholarships this summer.

Chevron helps preserve a threatened turtle species

Chevron made a three-year financial commitment to support New Mexico wildlife, including support of preservation efforts for the Rio Grande cooter, a threatened turtle species. The species is listed by the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish as a “species of greatest conservation need.” And it’s listed as “near threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

“This support is really crucial,” Christian Isely, a Chevron state government affairs representative, said. “Preserving an aquatic species is especially important in New Mexico because it’s such a dry state.”

During the first year, funds that the Albuquerque Biopark is raising as part of its commitment to safeguarding this threatened species will go toward making life a little more comfortable for the turtles. This includes the purchase and installation of fiberglass aquatic tanks and the creation of fortified outdoor areas so the turtles have access to sunlight.

In 2025, Rio Grande cooter hatchlings born at the facility will be released into the wild. Upon their release, the turtles will continue to be researched and monitored to aid in the development of  conservation efforts.

Chevron’s $200,000-per-year commitment to helping New Mexico’s wildlife thrive is meant not only to support the preservation of the Rio Grande cooter but also to support conservation and education efforts related to native plants, butterflies, and other insects.

For example, the Albuquerque Biopark is creating specialized environments to house collections of native New Mexico plants. Its goal is to support the plants’ growth and reintroduction into nature.

The facility is also planning to add a controlled breeding area for threatened species of butterflies.