Truckers for Troops campaign again delivers help to veterans

Year in, year out, the members of OOIDA have shown to be a tremendously charitable group. Even with all the adversity of the past year, 2020 was no different.

The Truckers for Troops campaign had another successful year of fundraising, generating $29,145. The 2020 campaign took place the week of Veterans Day, from Monday, Nov. 9, through the start of business on Monday, Nov. 16. During Truckers for Troops, truckers can join OOIDA for a discounted rate of $35 with 10% of that going into the fund and OOIDA matching that money. Truckers also can make direct donations to the fund.

In addition to a monetary contribution, OOIDA employees also donated a truckload of housewares to support active military personnel and veterans.

“I’m always amazed at how truckers come through for this effort, but this year I’m especially proud,” said Mark Reddig, host of Land Line Now. “Truckers always seem to come through the most when things are at their worst. And as always, the most important part is that we’re able to help so many of our troops and veterans during such a difficult time.”

Truckers for Troops started in 2007 as a way to send care packages to our country’s troops overseas and veterans’ facilities in the United States. The campaign, which was created during Operation Iraqi Freedom, has generated about $700,000.

Now with fewer soldiers stationed in harm’s way, Truckers for Troops is using funds to help the Veterans Community Project in addition to sending care packages.

VCP helps provide housing for homeless veterans through a community of “tiny houses.”

OOIDA President Todd Spencer and Lewie Pugh, OOIDA executive vice president, on Dec. 8 visited the Veterans Community Project’s Outreach Center in Kansas City, Mo., to deliver a $24,520 check from funds generated during the 2019 Truckers for Troops.

“People have really stepped up and responded in Kansas City and gotten behind us,” Chris Admire, executive director of the Veterans Community Project said. “In tough times you never know how companies, organizations and the community are going to respond. It’s usually really tough on nonprofits, but it’s actually been quite the opposite. We anticipated several months ago that there was going to be a growing need, and this is going to go a long way in helping with preventing veteran homelessness or helping to find veterans a permanent housing solution.”

Much of the need comes from those who have not necessarily needed this type of assistance in the past, but due to the nature of events in 2020 they find themselves in an unfamiliar situation.

“We just try to figure out any way to help a veteran. Whatever the problem, we just look to solve it,” Admire said. “Whether it be putting an access ramp on somebody’s house, finding a pet, or getting them benefits. Over the past four months, we’ve had an exponential growth of financial assistance requests from veterans. These are some individuals who have never been in financial distress. Dollars always go a long way in helping continue some people’s mortgages that just got into a little tough time. By helping them out for a couple of months, we can keep them on their feet.”

Help is just what OOIDA members have provided since starting the Truckers for Troops program in 2007.

“You know you can always call on them (OOIDA members and employees), and they’ll always stand up,” Spencer said. “They certainly show their pride in what they do every day on the highway and also the things that they support. And certainly veterans are one of those things that they deem high on the priority list.”

While the focus of the program has shifted from delivering care packages to financial assistance (with fewer troops overseas), the goal remains the same. OOIDA members, more than one-third of which are military veterans, have raised about $700,000 in support of the armed services since Truckers for Troops began. LL