Wal-mart Supprots Trucker Buddy Program

Waupaca, WI: The next time you walk into your neighborhood Wal-mart store, notice the local Girl Scout Troop raising funds for their summer camp by selling hot dogs. Or, maybe the little league team is offering to sell you a candy bar so they can buy new uniforms. Then, when you hand the cashier a check for your purchase, think about how some of those dollars will end up supporting your favorite charity.

Wal-mart (www.wal-mart.com) has a reputation for corporate generosity, and last year exceeded a record $170 million dollars in cash donations to charitable organizations, such as Trucker Buddy International. Through the "Volunteerism Always Pays" (VAP) program, Wal-mart Associates can designate a biannual donation to the charity of their choice in return for that individual's volunteer efforts to the organization.

Trucker Buddy International is a non-profit program which matches professional drivers and elementary classrooms. Each week, drivers such as the ones in Wal-mart's Private Fleet, send a post card to their designated class and tell the children where they travel, what they haul and what they see along the way. The drivers are rewarded with individual letters from each student once a month, and the correspondence continues throughout the school year.

Currently, there are 155 Wal-mart drivers in the Trucker Buddy program, where they join nearly 4,000 other professional drivers around the globe who help young students learn math, writing and geography skills through the interaction. Trucker Buddy International is based in Waupaca, Wisconsin, where third grade teacher, Donna Lavold at the Waupaca Learning Center has a Trucker Buddy for her classroom. Her experience with the program has been positive, and her students were thrilled to learn that their driver, Harold Moss, was a hero as a young man when he saved another child's life. The drivers, "were very involved with my students," Lavold said, "they actually sent personal letters to each child several times....along with an assortment of cards and gifts."

Twice each year, the Wal-mart Associates complete their VAP forms and submit them to the Wal-mart Foundation which then sends charitable organizations, such Trucker Buddy a check to support their efforts. "In the past year, the Wal-mart Foundation has provided $43,550 directly to the Trucker Buddy program," said Ellen Voie, Executive Director. "Without the corporate support of Wal-mart and our other sponsors, we could not continue to bring drivers into the classroom to help children learn someone who takes the time to their experiences from the cab of an 18-wheeler," Voie added.

Tim Harris, Wal-mart Private Fleet's Regional Manager is pleased with the participation of their professional drivers. "The relationships our drivers build with teachers and their students is awesome," Harris said, and added, "Wal-mart is pleased to have an opportunity to support the Trucker Buddy program."

Trucker Buddy is funded entirely through the generosity of Wal-mart and other industry supporters. For more information about the program, visit www.truckerbuddy.org or call 1-800-MY BUDDY.

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