Most around the trucking community today will be familiar with the St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund, colloquially known by the shorthand “the truckers’ fund” for the benefits it’s offered to drivers over the years who find themselves in a health and financial emergency. Something the organization put together recently caught my eye for how it framed of its value — and for its simply novelty, given I don’t think I’ve seen the folks at St. Christopher do this before.
They offered up two testimonials from beneficiaries, individuals who have felt the organization’s impact directly in a time of need. I thought I’d share the two here. To get a clear picture of the variety of benefits that the Truckers Fund delivers to drivers and owner-operators, and to read past related coverage of the trucking community’s wide base of provided support for the nonprofit, scan back through related coverage here at OverdriveOnline.com. Plenty organizations and trucking companies recognize that, as Dallas-based trucker Sheri Frumkin put it (a more full testimonial below), helping St. Christopher is helping truckers.
And you can, of course, find more about the organization via their website, TruckersFund.org.
I have been behind the wheel of a semi-truck for 17 years. During that time, I am ticket and accident-free, so I like to think I’m pretty good at my job – and I definitely love it, but truck driving also takes a toll on your body. At some point at work, I ripped my right rotator cuff, but without being able to pinpoint when it happened, I couldn’t claim worker’s comp. The injury forced me to miss nearly half a year of work, and without the financial help of St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund, I may have ended up broke, depressed and even homeless.
There is so much to enjoy about being a truck driver, like the freedom of being on the open road – but it can also be a lonely job, and not just when driving. When you get hurt and are unable to work and meet the physical demands of the job, it can feel like you are completely on your own without any support. After I had surgery on the tear in my shoulder, it took a month and a half before my short-term disability started, so that was 45 days without any income – and when disability did kick in, it’s only 50 percent of what I normally make on the job. That’s not enough to cover taxes, insurance, food and essential bills.
With mounting bills and no income, I was beginning to panic when I remembered an organization that helped my friend, a woman truck driver in Ohio, who had a hysterectomy in 2010 and couldn’t work for some time after. That memory provided me with hope, but it was after filling out the paperwork and receiving a call from Dana with St. Christopher that I realized how fearful I had become. When she told me how much St. Christopher would pay toward my bills, I began crying. I was overcome by a wave of instant relief, and I knew I was not alone. There was an organization out here looking out for me and other truckers.
Two months after St. Christopher first helped me, my disability ran out even though I was still unable to return to work. I called St. Christopher and let them know I was out of money and my bills were piling up. Again, they helped with my bills – but money isn’t all they gave me. Dana spoke to me like a friend. She comforted me and shared her own experiences of needing help, and she cheered me up during a time when I was at my lowest.
