OOIDA members support military personnel despite tough times

December 9, 2020

SJ Munoz

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Even with the extraordinary challenges of 2020, OOIDA’s members remain committed to giving back to active military troops and veterans through the Association’s Truckers for Troops program.

The most recent show of support included a check for $24,520 presented on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at the Veterans Community Project’s Outreach Center in Kansas City, Mo.

“This year has been challenging, certainly for most truckers,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “If you were on the road, you’re dealing with the effects of COVID-19 on a daily basis. While our members are absolutely essential to the survival of our entire country, the challenges they go through, just simply trying to find some place to stop and get something to eat or go to the bathroom, are daily and ongoing. Having said that, they recognize the importance of our service members and reaching out to help them, when and where they can.”

This generosity has become a hallmark of OOIDA members since the charitable efforts of Truckers for Troops began more than a decade ago.

“You know you can always call on them and they’ll always stand up,” said Spencer. “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.”

In addition to the monetary donation, OOIDA also delivered a truckload of household necessities donated by OOIDA employees that will go directly towards assisting veterans in transitional and permanent housing programs offered by the Veterans Community Project.

“Every resident that we transition into permanent housing, they get to take everything, all the houseware items. This is going to go a long way in helping with preventing veteran homelessness or helping to find veterans a permanent housing solution,” said Chris Admire, executive director of the Veterans Community Project. “We anticipated several months ago that there was going to be a growing need. 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. People have really stepped up and responded in Kansas City and got behind us.”

Truckers for Troops was started in 2007 as a way for OOIDA members to support military personnel. More than one-third of all members are veterans of the military. LL