In response to a second request by The For GOOD Foundation (TFGF), Trucks For Change (T4C) and its network of carriers stepped up for a second time in 2022 to deliver cases of shelf-stable and nutritious food products to food banks across Canada. In helping to fulfil orders from 60+ food banks located in every Canadian province, T4C carriers moved nearly 700,000 lbs. of TFGF-branded food products that are produced exclusively for Canadian food banks.
“Given that Trucks For Change had coordinated a similar undertaking earlier in the year, our planning group had some valuable experiences to inform this round of shipments,” says Scott Smith, T4C chair. “Capacity challenges in both rail and road sectors meant that we had to implement different strategies from the get-go, particularly when it came to moving orders from Ontario to Eastern and Western Canada.”
Maritime-Ontario, Apps Transport Group, and Fastfrate Group stepped up to move 425,000 lbs. from Ontario by rail to terminals in Eastern and Western Canada. In the west, Bison Transport handled final-mile deliveries of 100,000 lbs. to 11 food banks located in Saskatchewan and Alberta, and ColdStar Solutions moved a similar amount from Vancouver to food banks located on Vancouver Island.
Additional final-mile shipments from Ontario or western staging locations were handled by Bandstra Transportation Systems, The Erb Group of Companies, J.D. Smith and Sons, Kriska Transportation Group, Manitoulin Transport, Onfreight Logistics, Spring Creek Carriers, and Thomson Terminals.
“We are extremely grateful to Trucks For Change and its network of carriers for helping out with this recent campaign,” says Elliott Penner, founder of The For GOOD Foundation. “We acknowledge that there were several capacity and coordinating challenges, but in the end, our partnerships with T4C and Food Banks Canada played critical roles in helping us meet our goal of addressing food insecurity for Canadians by providing food to those who need it most.”
“This was a sizable undertaking for our group of our big-hearted and community-minded carriers,” says T4C’s Executive Director, Betsy Sharples. “We have already begun the process of planning for the next round of deliveries for The For GOOD Foundation with a view to implementing more efficient and sustainable processes, and broadening our carrier participation.”
The For GOOD Foundation is a Canadian Registered Charity that works with partners to manufacture and distribute proprietary products for food banks across Canada.
The Foundation’s unique model is 100% efficient with no overheads or salaries. Every dollar donated goes to food and getting it to Canadians who need it most. To date, The For GOOD Foundation has sourced and distributed over $20M of food to Canadian food banks. For more information, visit www.theforgoodfoundation.ca.