The Log Book is a weekly rundown of human-interest stories related to the transportation industry. This week: Husband-and-wife team delivers the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree, Wabash continues to support the local Feeding America food bank and Love’s distributes holiday meals to military families.
Hardy Brothers Trucking delivers U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree
Truck manufacturer Kenworth recently announced its T680 Next Gen truck was utilized by husband and wife drivers, Deb and Ed Kingdon Jr., from Hardy Brothers Trucking, to deliver this year’s U.S. Capitol Christmas tree.
This also became the first year that the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree was delivered by a female driver.
“When I retired from the military in 2018, Deb and I decided to begin careers in something we could do together since our kids were grown,” Ed Kingdon said. “We love to travel the country and saw truck driving as a job we’d enjoy. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we’d be the ones responsible for delivering the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree to D.C. Christmas is such a special holiday to our family, so to have shared this experience with our kids and grandkids who visited the community celebrations as we made our way to the capital was truly memorable.”
The couple utilized their Kenworth truck to pick up the tree on Nov. 5 in Fletcher, North Carolina, with other stops in Virginia.
The only concern throughout the trip — the couple had never moved oversized cargo.
“It was a challenge at first getting comfortable with understanding how much room you need to maneuver such a long truck-trailer combination, especially in the small towns we visited, but we learned quickly,” Ed Kingdon said. “We mapped out our route ahead of time and the state patrol who escorted us along the way helped us out a lot.”
The tree was delivered successfully to the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 18.
Wabash employees volunteer at Feeding America member food bank
Industrial manufacturer Wabash National announced in October that the company would continue its 20-year partnership with hunger-relief organization Feeding America through a $150,000 donation to help support food pantries in Wabash facility communities.
“Wabash is committed to supporting the communities where we operate, and we’re excited to scale up our efforts to help end food insecurity in partnership with Feeding America,” said Brent Yeagy, president and chief executive officer at Wabash.
During the 20-year relationship, Wabash has also aided Feeding America member food banks, like Food Finder Food Bank in Lafayette, Indiana, supplying volunteers and refrigerated trucks to support fresh food transfer.
Last Friday, Wabash volunteers, including Yeagy, joined Food Finders at its annual Drive Away Hunger Fall Food drive, an effort to raise more than 600,000 meals for local communities.
“Feeding America and member food banks across the country are working hard to meet the increasing demand for food assistance,” said Lauren Biedron, vice president of corporate partnerships at Feeding America. “No one should have to worry about where they will find their next meal. In our fight against hunger, we’re grateful to Wabash for their generous donation that will help our neighbors in need across the country.”
Love’s distributes meal kits to military families
Love’s Travel Stops partnered with nonprofit Operation Homefront last Saturday to help distribute meal kits to military family members at Love’s corporate offices in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
“With inflation and the rising cost of goods, this program comes at a critical time when our nation’s military families, often serving far from loved ones, are facing financial hardships,” said Robin Carter, senior director of Operation Homefront. “Together with Love’s, we are helping lift a financial burden and making the holiday season brighter for those that have given so much on behalf of all Americans.”
This is the third year the nonprofit has worked with Love’s at its headquarters to hand out meals to over 150 families in Operation Homefront’s Holiday Meals for Military program. This year, the Holiday Meals program aimed to supply more than 17,000 families throughout the U.S. with food.
“The Holiday Meals for Military is an event we look forward to every year, and we were so excited to host it at our corporate offices once again,” said Jenny Love Meyer, chief culture officer and executive vice president of Love’s. “We’re always proud to join Operation Homefront in playing a small part in providing support and comfort to military families during holidays, and love seeing the excitement on families faces when they pick up the kits.”
Watch now: Making the Right Choice with Love’s
Have a transportation-related human-interest story to share?
If so, please contact me at gsharkey@freightwaves.com.
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