Canadian truckers roll to battle child hunger
More than two dozen Canadian trucking companies hit the road this summer to join the fight against child hunger.
Food Banks Canada, through the organization’s After the Bell program, enlisted the help of Canadian truckers to help support the delivery of 150,000 healthy food packs to children in need this summer. Food Banks Canada reports that 34 per cent of the people who rely on food banks in the country are children.
The food packs are sent to participating food bank programs throughout the country to help children living with hunger. Since the start of the pandemic, food banks have experienced a rise in the number of people accessing their services. The organization says they expect to see more people accessing their services as social support programs such as the Canada Recovery Benefit begin to wind down.
To help meet the new demands on food banks, 25 Canadian carriers – who are part of the Canadian Trucking Alliance and members of the Trucks for Change Network, stepped up to volunteer their services to transport the food across the country. CTA/T4C carriers moved a total of 227 pallets to 52 local food banks in Canada.
“Having assisted Food Banks Canada with After the Bell campaigns in previous years, the Trucks for Change network welcomed the support of the Canadian Trucking Alliance and its members to help move essential food packs to address child hunger across the country,” said T4C chair Scott Smith.
“Carriers and drivers alike embraced this opportunity to help out fellow Canadians through this annual program,” echoed the network’s executive director, Betsy Sharples. “Our member companies are proud to have been able to play a critical role in making the After the Bell program a success, and we look forward to working with CTA to expand our network of carriers so that we can support similar future national initiatives.”
“Since the start of the pandemic, Canadian carriers and truck drivers have stepped up to deliver the essential products, food and medical supplies Canadians rely on. We are grateful for the outpouring of appreciation Canadians have shown our industry during that time and we always welcome any opportunity to pay it forward and give back,” says CTA’s CEO Stephen Laskowski.
Chris Hatch, CEO of Food Banks Canada, is thankful for CTA’s and T4C’s support.
“Food Banks Canada has begun a journey to incorporate community research related to the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion into our decision-making so that we can ensure equitable distribution of the After the Bell healthy food packs,” he says. “Thanks to partners like CTA and Trucks for Change, we can ensure the packs can reach children in even the most remote communities.”
The CTA/T4C carriers that took part in delivering food are:
Apps Cargo Terminals
Atlas Logistics
B & R Eckels
Bandstra Transportation
Brian Kurtz Trucking
Centurion
Chariot Express
Cold Star Solutions
Erb Group
Gordon Food Service
Guilbault
GX Transportation
Hartrans Cartage
J.D. Smith & Sons
JBC Transport
Jete’s MTB
JR Hall
Laidlaw Van
Manitoulin Transport
ONE For Freight
Onfreight Logistics
Reilly Transfer
Rosenau Transport
Thomson Terminals
XTL Transport
“By donating truck space to help charities distribute donated food and materials, leading trucking companies and industry suppliers who are part of the T4C network are making communities across Canada a better place to live,” says Sharples.
Click here and here for a snapshot of T4C trucking companies at work during the After the bell campaign. We encourage you to express your support in replies to the social media posts.