A tradition of giving
The tradition of giving to end the year continued for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in 2021.
For the past 15 years, OOIDA has ended the year with its Truckers for Troops campaign, which was started as a way to send care packages to service members overseas and veterans’ facilities in the United States.
“Once again the trucking industry stepped up to help our veterans,” Sylvia Dodson with Truckers for Troops said. “They joined, they renewed and donated in order to make this a success. There was enthusiasm to let us know what branch they were affiliated with. They were donating full boxes on behalf of their fur babies. We even had quite a few votes for Space Force. It was a lot of fun, as always, and our members came through again.”
More than one-third of OOIDA members are military veterans, and this year’s effort resulted in a total of $32,300 in donations from nearly 2,000 participants.
“This one is near and dear to the organization as a lot of truckers, including myself and our president Todd Spencer, are veterans,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh said. “It means a lot to us. We don’t like to see other veterans struggle, and I don’t think anyone in America wants to see veterans struggle.”
Even with all the obstacles of the past couple of years, OOIDA and its members remained steadfast in their giving.
“Our staff and members are all very giving,” Pugh said. “It’s been a rough year-and-a-half and everyone is frustrated. But, at the end of the day people’s hearts are still in the right place and caring for people.”
Veterans Community Project
In recent years, with less military personnel overseas, the efforts of the Truckers for Troops campaign have shifted, but the generosity continues to impress year after year.
The Veterans Community Project is a neighborhood of 49 “tiny houses” in Kansas City, Mo., created to assist veterans with homelessness. The homes range in size from 240 to 320 square feet, connect to city utilities and 70% of the construction was performed by community volunteers.
A Veterans Outreach Center is also available through the Veterans Community Project. The center provides services including:
- Free RideKC veterans pass
- Food and hygiene kits
- Employment services
- Discharge upgrade services
- Military documentation services
- Emergency assistance
- Counseling and housing referrals
- Case management
As a nonprofit, the project benefits greatly from fundraisers like Truckers for Troops.
On Dec. 7, OOIDA made a donation from funds raised by this year’s Truckers for Troops, and also delivered a truckload of household supplies and goods.
“It’s really important that we have buy-in from the community because we are a non-profit that doesn’t accept federal money,” said Chris Admire, executive director at Veterans Community Project-Kansas City. “These relationships are the foundation of what we do here. This is just as much theirs as it is ours. It is the community’s nonprofit. The goal the founder set was ending veteran homelessness, and here in Kansas City we’re taking that to a little different level.”
That level includes an expansion at their Kansas City campus among other plans.
“We’re in five cities now: Kansas City; St. Louis; Longmont, Colo.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Oklahoma City,” Admire said. “With that expansion it’s starting to bring a little bit more national attention. The goal the founder of this organization set was ending veteran homelessness. We want to create a navigation campus here in Kansas City to help all veterans. Any veteran that wants to better themselves. They can come here and we can help them with a much broader spectrum than just housing issue.”
After another successful campaign, Truckers for Troops has now raised more than $700,000 for military personnel and veterans. LL