(TORONTO: January 18, 2024) — 2023 marked a significant year for the Trucks for Change Network (T4C), including hitting a major milestone of moving a MILLION pounds of food bank products for The For GOOD Foundation in only eight months.
T4C celebrated a decade of impact with network and charity partners and corporate sponsors, and confirmed its commitment to continue making a difference in the lives of Canadian families and communities.
“What T4C members do is more important than it’s ever been,” says Scott Smith, Trucks for Change Network board chair. “We’re incredibly proud of how our industry pulls together to support charitable organizations and meet their transportation needs. And we couldn’t be more grateful to work with amazing charity partners and their remarkable volunteer armies who make it all happen.”
Since being founded in 2011, T4C has helped distribute 26 million pounds of freight including donated food, clothing, mobility aids, books and a wide range of other essentials to families and communities in need across Canada. As the needs increase, so do T4C members’ time, efforts, expertise, cooperation, and professionalism.
Some of our key projects included:
- Supporting the After the Bell food program that helps to feed kids when in-school lunch programs don’t. Almost 95,000 food packs were delivered by 29 carriers to 84 food banks across the country over two months.
- Hit Milestone of a MILLION Pounds delivered for The For GOOD Foundation to transport food bank branded, shelf-stable, food to every region of Canada. In 2023, Trucks for Change Network fleets delivered a whopping million pounds of food to 41 food banks across Canada.
- Establishing a new award — T4C Achievement of Excellence for Community Engagement — that will recognize an organization that is a positive and active social force and whose corporate values emphasize partnerships that benefit the community. The award will be presented for the first time in 2024 at Trucking HR Canada’s annual Top Fleet Awards gala held in Toronto.
- Delivering more than 7,300 cases of bottled water to support charities like Project Food Chain that assists Toronto’s unhoused population, and the Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Services to support evacuees and first responders in Nova Scotia during the wildfire crisis.
“We couldn’t do what we do without our carriers and sponsors and in-kind supporters like ShipNorthAmerica,” says Betsy Sharples, Executive Director, Trucks For Change Network. “We are only able to answer the call of our charity partners because of our strong network of supporters that also help spread the word to their employees and others via social media, so even more organizations are inspired to get involved.”
In a year-end message, Smith thanked everyone in the T4C network. “On behalf of T4C board, we extend sincere appreciation to all the carriers and their people who go to great lengths to work together to keep food and other products needed by our charitable partners moving so they get to families who need them.”
Trucks for Change now connects a network of about 60 carriers to requests from charities, using an online freight matching tool known as MOVEMatrix. Members leverage truck and trailer capacity to help move goods at heavily discounted rates.
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More information:
Trucks for Change: betsy@trucksforchange.org, trucksforchange.org
The For GOOD Foundation: media@theforgoodfoundation.ca, theforgoodfoundation.ca