Eva Darling

The Giving Trucker

As I was traveling down the road on a sunny day in June, I came across a man that was standing on an off ramp to the highway. I decided to reach out of my cab window and give the man a couple of dollars that I had stashed in my cup holder. It felt really good to give him those dollars. As I kept driving I had an idea, what could I do to better the lives of some of these people that I see all across America. When I was able to stop at the receiver to unload my truck where I was delivering my goods, I climbed in the back of my truck and laid across my bed. My mind was racing on different things I could do to make a difference in this world. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks; why not make hygiene bags with goodies inside and a note with an inspirational thought or a scripture from the bible written on a card, add a dollar or two into the bag and pass them out. Oh how I got excited about my idea and I promised myself as soon as I returned home I would start building my bags. That weekend I ventured out to the nearest store and started grabbing toiletries to fill my bags. I grabbed toothbrushes and tooth paste, soap, deodorant and other items that I personally felt would be appreciated if the bags had been given to me. Years before this idea of mine was becoming a reality, I too was homeless with my children and I remembered all the things that people had given me over the years and I was so happy that now I was able to give back. My daughter helped me write the inspirational notes and scriptures down on each card that we put a lot of love and thought into, we added dollars to our bags and we found some really pretty colorful bags too; we ended up with twenty bags in total. So the next day we loaded up the car and I took my first bags on the road with me. I found many people that were in need at truck stops, on the side of roads. This continued for several months and each time it gave me a feeling of purpose in life. One Sunday at church the ladies were talking about ideas we could do to help some of the women shelters in our city and I told my church members about what I was doing to suggest making bags. A couple of weeks went by and we were having a book reading at my church; the first lady at my church had told us that we were all to bring items for the bags that we were going to make for the ladies at the homeless shelter. The table was full of goodies that we filled each bag with. We ended up with one hundred bags made with love. That is when my church sisters informed me that the bags were made to help me in my endeavor to continue giving in my truck ministry. I was so excited and filled with love that the tears would not stop flowing from my eyes. To this day I still pass out my bags and I even now pass them out in my truck and my personal vehicle as well. This to me is just the beginning of many more things that I will come up with to give back into the world. If one ever feels like they do not know how and where to start giving back, just think about the giving trucker and start there.