The officers for CTA’s Blue Ribbon Task Force are inviting carrier members to take part in a great cause, while also helping us to continue elevating the positive public image our industry has received over the last year.
Doug Sutherland of Sutco and Day Transport’s Heather Day recently announced how the BRTF will begin working more closely with Trucks for Change (T4C) to help promote and showcase the charitable acts and initiatives undertaken by member companies.
The first campaign in 2021 will be to work with Canada Food Banks throughout late spring and summer on After the Bell (ATB) – a multifaceted program that focuses on addressing immediate needs of children experiencing hunger while building lifelong skills in nutritional literacy. The program serves to provide nutritional “summer packs” to children who typically rely on school breakfast and lunch programs during the school year. After they are sent to the local food bank, grant money is used to supplement the food packs with perishable items. ATB helps to ensure that children experiencing food insecurity continue to receive nutritious food after the last bell rings in June.
Food is donated by ATB corporate partners in bulk. Volunteers unpack boxes of donated food and sort it into individual summer packs, which are then loaded onto pallets and trucks for delivery to food banks across Canada. The program has grown from 13,000 food packs distributed in 2016 to 130,000 packs distributed to 162 communities in 2020. Food Banks Canada has targeted 150,000 packs to be assembled and delivered in 2021.
T4C carriers in particular play a significant role in moving charitable or discounted loads. T4C carriers moved 125,000+ lbs of donated food for the ATB program in 2020.
OTA and CTA member carriers are encouraged to get involved. At this point, there are about 70 available pick-up and delivery opportunities across the country throughout the spring and summer.
Interested carriers can contact Betsy Sharples [email protected] to sign up.
CTA is well positioned to sustain and expand on the positive image industry gained during COVID-19 into other areas, including charitable efforts, focus on supporting Canadians in need. As such, all carriers who take part will be encouraged to document and share stories/images/video of their efforts in the campaign and will receive a CTA media toolkit/game plan to assist them in showcasing their involvement.
If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] and [email protected].
