Truckers play a vital role in the economy at great personal cost. Far from home on a regular basis, truck drivers find their own sense of community in caring for others on the road. Charities for truckers and their families are founded in the idea that truckers take care of their own. Here are four top truck driver charities that significantly contribute to this sense of community by providing important crisis resources.
- St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund – One of the charities for truckers with the most far-reaching potential for good, this nonprofit organization understand the value of health in the trucker community. The SCF’s mission is to help truckers and their families financially when injury or illness interferes with their ability to work on the road. It also provides health and wellness programs to help drivers maintain better overall health, including free vaccinations and programs to help drivers quit smoking.
- Trucker Charity – Trucker Charity is another of the truck driver charities that values the trucking-industry community. This organization’s central mission includes these three elements:
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- Get Home – This charity provides emergency lodging for truck drivers stranded in natural disasters or suffering from major health issues. It also provides “Last Ride Home” services, alleviating the financial burden of transporting truckers home who have passed away on the road.
- Get a Meal – One of the only charities for truckers that maintains a food pantry, Trucker Charity runs a central food bank in Illinois for anyone in the trucking industry to collect three days’ worth of food.
- Get a Safe Place To Wait – In major disasters, Trucker Charity provides resources to make sure truckers, mechanics, and their families have access to emergency housing as needed until the disaster lifts.
In addition to these major elements to its mission, Trucker Charity also offers life coaching and mentoring programs as educational opportunities to better the lives of those in the trucking industry.
- Meals for 18 Wheels – One of the newer truck driver charities, Meals for 18 Wheels focuses on feeding hot meals to truckers in financial need. This charity runs a Facebook page to alert volunteers to the needs of drivers on the road, coordinating volunteer efforts to care for hungry drivers all over the country.
- Truckers Final Mile – This group specifically helps provide transportation and housing to help truck drivers whose families are experiencing a major crisis. This is one of the truck driver charities that truly understands the value of community when a family is in need, and steps in to help trucker families in the following circumstances:
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- Major health events
- Severe injury
- Death of a truck driver
- Major illness, injury, or death of a truck driver’s family member
The charity also has special funds set aside to help drivers whose homes need to be renovated to allow for accessibility after life-changing injury or illness.
Community Service
When it comes to the trucking industry, these four truck driver charities are only a partial view of how truckers take care of their own. Between the truckers, trucker families, and other charities for truckers, this lonely livelihood becomes a true community. No matter where they are on the road, between insurance benefits and trucker-run charities, truck drivers have resources available during any medical, financial, or natural crisis.
