OOIDA salutes veterans with 15th annual Truckers for Troops campaign

Military veterans deserve a salute and much more. That’s the conviction behind the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s annual Truckers for Troops campaign.

The annual fundraiser allows truck drivers to show appreciation for all of the sacrifices that members of the military make.

Occurring each year during the week of Veterans Day, the 15th annual Truckers for Troops campaign is set to begin Monday, Nov. 8, and run through the start of business on Monday, Nov. 15.

As in past years, truckers can join OOIDA for a discounted rate of $35, with 10% of that going into the fund for veterans, and then OOIDA matches that money. Truckers also can make direct donations into the fund.

To date, the effort has generated $697,196.

To participate in Truckers for Troops

To participate in Truckers for Troops, just call OOIDA’s main number, 816-229-5791. During business hours, let operators know you’re calling about Truckers for Troops, and they will transfer you to membership. Phones will be answered live, and the switchboards will stay open later than usual, so you can call until 7:30 p.m. Central.

Individual tax-deductible contributions to the Truckers for Troops fund also are welcome and can be paid to the OOIDA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

15 years in the making

Truckers for Troops started in 2007 – during Operation Iraqi Freedom – as a way to send care packages to our country’s troops overseas and veterans’ facilities in the United States.

Truckers for Troops started using funds in 2020 to help the Veterans Community Project in addition to sending care packages.

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

Listen to a Land Line Now broadcast featuring a veteran who said the Veterans Community Project saved his life.

The Veterans Community Project’s locations also include a community center that provides comprehensive services to veterans, such as “navigating the VA and their benefits, identification services, mental and physical health referrals, financial counseling, and employment supports among other services. In addition, veterans can receive hygiene kits and utilize a food pantry. All services are free of charge.”

In December 2020, OOIDA presented the program with a check for $24,520.

Land Line Now plans to have special programming during the entire week of the Truckers for Troops campaign.  LL