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Carlisle/West Shore Area Trucker and Traveler Ministry 2000 Annual Report One
constant in the trucking industry is change.
Driver turnover rates average 100% per year.
The rate of turnover in truckstop staff is probably the same or
even higher. Every second a vehicle drives past one of the truckstops in
which our chaplain serves. Every
day thousands of people are in the vicinity of the truckstops, many of
whom are in need of pastoral care of some sort.
The next day the faces may have all changed, but the need for
pastoral care remains. The
challenge of relating to this enormous and changing community can only be
accomplished in partnership. Through
this ministry, we have established a partnership with the management and
staff of the truckstops, a partnership with the truckers and their
industry, and a partnership with the local churches to provide the best
possible pastoral care in a diverse and transient venue. Our
partnership with the management and staff of the truckstops is evidenced
in the willingness of the staff at the truckstops to contact the chaplain
related to needs shown by their customers.
The All-American corporation has graciously provided space for the
chaplain’s office for the past fifteen years, allowing the chaplain to
have a private space in which to counsel truckers, a place where
administrative tasks may be carried out, and access to telephone service.
Beyond this "in-kind" contribution, their monthly
donations to this ministry program have been our largest single source of
income. They
have seen the value of this program continue to grow through the years,
and their unwavering support for this ministry is greatly appreciated. Our
partnership with the truckers and trucking industry is likely the most
one-sided. Because of the generosity of the truckstops and the local
church bodies, a needed service is provided to the truckers and trucking
industry at no cost to them. While
we would gratefully receive large donations from trucking companies, as
yet we provide this ministry without consideration for financial returns.
Some truckers are able to contribute to our "truck bank"
collection boxes in the truckstops, but our chaplain at no time solicits
donations from individuals in the Our
partnership with the local church bodies is the most necessary. While
the All-American Corporation is our biggest single donor, donations from
local churches will combine to underwrite half of our operating budget in
2001. By joining together in
this mission, the church of Jesus Christ reaches out in a way that is
unique, powerful and effective. Unless
they are familiar with this program, most people would never go to a
truckstop in search of pastoral care, and most people who receive such
care in the truckstops did not expect to find it there.
Through our chaplain and the ministry program, the churches touch
lives in small but powerful ways. For
instance, between You
have received this report and read this far because you are interested in
this ministry and it is important to you.
Please do not let your interest stop here.
In July, we will again need volunteers to dip ice cream at our
annual Ice Cream Social. Last
year over 30 volunteers helped raise $1800 for the ministry in this way.
We will again be distributing cookies at the truckstops throughout
the month of December. We
will need the largest possible monetary gifts from our supporters to
continue to provide a chaplain full-time in the Return to the PA Council of Churches Home Page Return to the list of chaplains and locations
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