In The News

TravelCenter's fundraiser for St. Christopher yields blockbuster results

TravelCenters of America’s Band Together campaign wrapped up in mid-September with numbers that had accountants doing a double check of their spreadsheets. The truck stop chain’s goal was to beat last year’s results and raise $215,000, but this year’s effort raised more than $278,000 for the St. Christopher fund.

St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund is a nonprofit organization that assists professional truck drivers whose medical problems have caused financial difficulty.

With TravelCenter’s fundraising and its nomination of SCF for cash awards through BP, more than $750,000 has been donated to the St. Christopher fund since TravelCenters began supporting the SCF.

Before this year’s Band Together campaign concluded in September, all of the 255,000 wristbands had been sold at a dollar each. However, drivers kept on donating.

President and CEO of TravelCenters Tom O’Brien said after the bands sold out, site employees “got creative” and held special events and contests to supplement the wristband sales.

Employees at a number of locations did bake sales and a couple of them even hosted pie-in-the-face contests. The TA at Exit 377 on I-80 in Cheyenne, WY, topped the effort with $5,343.09 in donations. Several other locations finished close behind.

The total donation amounted to $278,207.09, TravelCenters announced on Monday. The money was raised not only by the Band Together campaign, but other summer events, including the TA Walcott Truckers Jamboree, Expedite Expo and Great American Trucking show.

Dr. Donna Kennedy, executive director of the SCF, confirmed Friday that the TA fundraiser for 2012 will be the largest single donation that SCF has ever received.

“This will result in SCF being able to immediately increase assistance with utility bills, mortgage payments and other monthly bills for truckers in need,” said Kennedy.

TravelCenters of America is the largest full-service truck stop chain in North America, operating TA and Petro Stopping Centers branded travel centers.  The majority of its customers are professional truck drivers.

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