OOIDA campaign accepting care package requests
For nearly 20 years, Truckers For Troops has supported military personnel in times of conflict and during times of peace.
The program was established by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in 2007 to send care packages to troops stationed overseas. Since then, Truckers For Troops has also stepped up for veterans by donating to the Veterans Community Project.
Now with the recent conflict in Iran, there is a growing need overseas. Once again, truckers are more than willing to step up and help the troops.
Anyone with family or friends serving overseas who would like a care package is encouraged to contact Truckers For Troops. Those package addresses can be sent to Troops@OOIDA.com.
Individual tax-deductible contributions to the Truckers For Troops fund are also welcome and can be made to the OOIDA Foundation, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation.
These aren’t your typical care packages
Truckers For Troops sends 24x24x24 boxes filled with essentials like socks and fun items like silly string, weighing up to 70 pounds and containing enough contents for an entire unit.
Since the program started, Truckers For Troops has raised more than $800,000 for active military and veterans, sending nearly 40,000 care packages to service members.
The 2025 Truckers For Troops effort, held Nov. 10-16, saw OOIDA members raise more than $29,000.
During the campaigns, truck drivers can join or renew their memberships at a discounted rate, with 10% of the proceeds going to Truckers For Troops. OOIDA then matches that 10% on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
“It makes me very proud to see OOIDA’s ongoing commitment to veterans and military supported by our members so that we can make these special visits and donations a reality,” Sylvia Dodson, manager of the Association’s membership department, said after the 2025 fundraising campaign.
The United Service Organizations (USO), which has served U.S. military and their families since 1941, said it’s seen an “exponential increase” in requests for care packages.
The USO is currently delivering services on military installations, in bunkers, aboard aircraft carriers and at its centers in Germany and beyond to a surge of troops as military personnel are mobilizing across Europe. LL