OOIDA’s annual Truckers For Troops campaign begins Monday, Nov. 11

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association will soon begin its annual campaign aimed at helping veterans and active duty military personnel.

Entering its 18th year, OOIDA’s Truckers For Troops is a weeklong event that helps raise funds for a number of veteran organizations, as well as for care packages to send to U.S. troops stationed overseas. This year’s campaign will run from Nov. 11-17.

Starting Monday, Nov. 11, new and renewed OOIDA memberships will be offered at a discounted price of $35 for a year. Members can join or renew for as many years as they’d like at the discounted rate, and 10% of the total amount paid will go to Truckers For Troops.

In addition, OOIDA has pledged to match those funds dollar-for-dollar. Individual tax-deductible contributions are also welcome.

“The fundraising effort has been an OOIDA tradition since 2007, originally dedicated to sending care packages to service personnel stationed in combat zones,” the Association said in a statement. “Truckers For Troops has also helped a variety of veterans facilities, including those assisting or housing wounded, disabled or homeless service members.”

Since Truckers For Troops began in 2007, OOIDA members have donated roughly $811,000 to veterans and veteran organizations. In addition to supporting those organizations, the money raised by the annual campaign has helped provide nearly 3,300 care packages to nearly 40,0000 members of the military. The Association also has sent aid packages to 65 facilities caring for wounded, disabled and homeless veterans.

You can support Truckers For Troops by calling 816-229-5791 between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Central Monday through Friday or by going online to OOIDA.com and selecting “Become a Member” to join or renew.

One of the organizations benefiting from Truckers For Troops is the Veterans Community Project. Founded in 2016 in Kansas City, Mo., by four combat veterans, VCP’s mission is to fight veteran homelessness by providing former military members with “a home of their own and individualized, wraparound support services that not only help get them back on their feet but ensure they continue standing.”

One way the organization accomplishes that goal is through its communities of tiny homes located across the country. In addition to the original location in Kansas City, VCP has community villages in Glendale, Ariz., Longmont, Colo., Sioux Falls, S.D., St. Louis, Milwaukee and Oklahoma City.

In July, Truckers For Troops delivered a check for $10,000, along with 125 backpacks filled with hygiene kits, to the VCP village in St. Louis.

“Our members, who are small-business truckers and truck drivers, some of them are veterans or they, like everyone, have relatives or friends that are veterans,” Norita Taylor, OOIDA’s director of public relations, told KTVI-TV during the visit. “They want to show their support in any way they can.”

In October, the group made the same donation to the village in Sioux Falls. LL