The Jacob Russell Boulanger Memorial Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting truck drivers in dire circumstances, is hosting an auction at the Mid-America Trucking Show next week, says the organization’s Christine Green.
The auction will be held on Saturday, March 28.
Green says, “We have already been receiving great items for the auction” from a variety of vendors and individuals, but “we really welcome and need more items to make this year’s auction even more successful.”
“Tools and items pertaining to the trucking industry or life on the road are great, but other items are welcome too,” says Green. “Redbox has donated a voucher for 25 one-night rentals. I myself am donating an afghan I knit. If someone would like to ship an item they can contact me for an address.”
Green can be reached at her email address: [email protected].
The Mid-America Trucking Show’s public hours are Thursday-Saturday, March 26-28.
“This auction is important to us because our volunteers are mostly all drivers and scattered across the country, and MATS is one opportunity we have to come together and host a fundraiser,” says Green.
The last few years have been times of growth for the fund, since establishing operations in 2011. In 2012, Green says, the organization provided financial assistance to 17 trucking families. In 2013 that increased to 26 families.
“In 2014 we provided nearly $20,000 in assistance to 37 families,” she says. “All financial support given is of a life-sustaining and necessary nature in keeping with our belief in ‘A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out.’”
To help people remember the organization better, the group created HelpaTrucker.org, where truckers and other can find links to information on getting help, donating, or volunteering to work with the organization.
“We really would love to have more volunteers to help handle cases and to shorten the time from a client’s initial contact until the case is submitted to the board,” Green says.
