November 28, 2023 – As part of Giving Tuesday, the Salvation Army unveiled its new box truck thanks to a substantial financial gift from ADM.
The new box truck will serve as a part of the Salvation Army’s food programs, traveling to food distribution centers in Bloomington, Ill., Champaign, Ill., Springfield, Ill., as well as Chicago, and providing meals to community members in need of food assistance. The purchase of the box truck was made possible through a $75,000 contribution from ADM.
As part of its 2023 giving initiatives to the Salvation Army, ADM has also provided a $35,000 food grant to support the Salvation Army’s Christmas Food Assistance program, and $20,000 to support the Salvation Army’s general feeding programs. With ADM’s support, the Salvation Army will help provide hunger relief for 32,160 individuals and provide hunger relief for approximately 500 families during the Christmas season.
Officers Major Randy & Major Sue Summit were grateful to ADM for their support. “We know that ADM is committed to hunger relief, but it is amazing to see this personal commitment to our Macon County Community by not only giving funds for our food programs but going even further by making sure a vehicle is present so that we can get the food we need. This generosity is absolutely incredible and we are humbled by the support,” said Major Randy Summit.
The truck was purchased from a dealer in Janesville Wisconsin. Major Randy made a solo trip to retrieve the truck but ran into a small hiccup when he could not find a car rental facility locally that would rent for a one-way trip to Wisconsin. Major Randy said he ended up renting a U-Haul for the trip to Wisconsin after a suggestion from an employee that U-Haul does one-way rentals.
“So basically, I rented a box truck to go pick up a box truck,” the Major said.
The truck will replace the Salvation Army’s aging 1996 box truck.
