If you spend any amount of time on popular social media sites, you no doubt have seen your stream of posts filled with ads for Black Friday sales. Black Friday -- tomorrow -- is traditionally seen as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, with some merchants opening at the stroke of midnight and offering the best deals of the year.
It's possible you may have seen promotions for Small Business Saturday, a creation of American Express to urge folks to shop locally, especially with small, independent businesses.
Less organized but no less popular is Cyber Monday, when many folks do much of their holiday shopping on the internet ... many while at work.
Finally, there is a special Thanksgiving-related day that may not have the profile of these three events aimed at encouraging folks to buy, buy, buy. That day is Giving Tuesday, and as the name suggests, its a day to consider making donations to charities.
Giving Tuesday began in 2012 as a way of encouraging people to do good, and is now a world-wide movement in 80 countries. In 2022, some $3.1 billion were donated in 24 hours in the U.S. alone, a 15% increase over the prior year and a 25% increase since 2020. On Nov. 29, 2022 37 million adults participated by offering gifts of time, voice, skills, goods, and money, as well as countless acts of kindness inspired by the movement.
If the giving spirit moves you and you have the time, skills or funds to do so, Giving Tuesday could be the ideal time to help out organizations that help out truckers and their families.
Here's some such organizations.
St. Christopher Trucker Relief Fund
This non-profit may be the largest organization aiding truckers in many ways.
The St. Christopher Fund helps truckers who may be out of work because of injury or illness. The fund helps truck families cover major monthly expenses, like mortgage, utilities, vehicle payments, and insurance.
But more than that, the St. Christopher Fund also has a variety of services and programs to help improve the lives of truckers. These include smoking cessation, free cancer screening, diabetes prevention, and counseling services.
Founded in 2021, the Next Generation in Trucking Association is a non-profit trade association with the mission to promote trucking as a positive career field; to create and partner with career technical education programs at secondary and postsecondary institutions; and encourage the training of young people in the trucking industry by connecting them to training and employment opportunities.
The organization works with educators to promote trucking as a career technical education choice, and educate high school administration, teachers and counselors, students and parents on the benefits and opportunities in the trucking industry.
Truckers Emergency Assistance Responders
T.E.A.R.'s motto is, "We step up when they step back." In practice, this charity, founded by three women drivers, comes to the aid of truckers who may have, for whatever reason, been abandoned by their carrier. T.E.A.R. volunteers help ensure the driver in need gets home with their belongings and their pets if they have any riding along.
In addition to making financial contributions, drivers and others can volunteer to help T.E.A.R. accomplish its mission of making sure no trucker is left alone in their time of need.
Founded almost 10 years ago, this organization helps out truckers and/or their families in times of what may be their greatest need.
Truckers Final Mile helps trucker families whose loved one may have died while on the road, or been affected by an unexpected illness, or were injured far away from home. The charity can help cover hotel and travel expenses for an injured driver or assist with funeral arrangements for a trucker who died while driving.
No trucker should go hungry, and this volunteer organization makes sure of that.
This is a simple process. A driver in need of a meal but has no money can contact the charity with their location. Then, Meals for 18 Wheels puts out a call to people in the driver's vicinity who are willing to make a meal and deliver it to the driver in need.
Meals for 18 Wheels also makes sure that pets traveling with the driver in need also get fed.
Founded by a former highway patrolman and federal agent, Trucker Down helps truckers and their families who have, through no fault of their own, fallen on hard times.
Trucker Down said it accepts applications for assistance through its web portal, email or by mail. Applications are reviewed by the Board of Directors to determine allocation of assistance to CDLA drivers or their family where appropriate. If a trucker tragically passes away as a result of an accident or medical issue while driving, Trucker Down is a resource for the driver's family. Trucker Down also is a resource for drivers that may be experiencing a personal hardship. These applications are also reviewed by the Board of Directors for Trucker Down to determine suitable support to keep our drivers healthy and on the road.
There also are trucker-related charities worth supporting on Giving Tuesday.
This innovative program connects truck drivers with teachers and school classrooms to promote literacy and cultural exchange. Truck drivers can exchange letters and photos with their “pen pals” and even visit the schools in person. students learn not just about trucking, but also valuable geography lessons as drivers share notes from the road.
Operation Roger helps transport lost pets and deliver those saved from shelters who are on their way to their forever homes. The pets ride along with the truck driver to their destination. The group is always looking for drivers to participate. To donate, participate or simply learn more about Operation Roger, visit the organization online.
