OOIDA’s Truckers for Troops 2017 campaign tops $46,000

The numbers are in, and the 2017 edition of OOIDA’s Truckers for Troops campaign raised more than $46,424 to support U.S. military personnel at home and abroad.

Funds were raised during a week-long campaign. The total tops last year’s $42,000 mark.

More than 3,000 members participated in the event, which ran from Nov. 13 through Nov. 19. Members of the U.S. Army won the branch of service challenge.

OOIDA matches 10 percent to fund care packages for troops overseas and to provide needed supplies to long-term care facilities treating wounded veterans.

For over a decade now, OOIDA’s Truckers for Troops has, through the generosity of its members and with a matching contribution by the Association, raised more than $500,000 for care packages and other supplies to help U.S. military personnel.

Veterans are a huge part of the trucking industry overall, and more than one-third of all OOIDA members have served in the military.

Once again, Shell Rotella kicked off this year’s fundraiser with a contribution of $2,000.

To date, the Association has sent more than 3,000 large care packages and provided items to nearly 36,000 military personnel stationed in war zones. All the purchasing, organizing and packing of the boxes is handled by OOIDA staff volunteers, ensuring that 100 percent of the money raised is used to purchase items and cover shipping.

In 2015, the Association expanded the program’s mission to include supplying needed items to various medical care facilities for wounded or needy veterans back in the states.

OOIDA is also asking for the names and addresses of troops serving in active combat zones to add to the Association’s list of recipients. Call the name and address in to Nikki Johnson at OOIDA at 816-229-5791. You can also email her at Troops@OOIDA.com.

Those zones include Afghanistan, the Kosovo area of Yugoslavia, and the Arabian Peninsula areas, which include the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, part of the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the countries of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.