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With many truck stops no longer serving food because of the coronavirus pandemic, an Arkansas fire department has begun offering free meals to truckers responsible for hauling goods across the country.
Last weekend, Quail Creek Fire Chief James Church posted the following invitation on the department's Facebook page: "All truck drivers …if you have your (commercial driver's license), bring your truck by the station and get a free burger and hot dog." Church said the idea started after learning that while drivers might be able to get food at other restaurants, they were having difficulties finding a place for their rigs.
“Places like Texas Roadhouse and other places are giving them food, but they’re saying they don’t have a place to park," he told KTHV-TV. "We have a large parking lot with a side road that’s pretty large. We have an industrial area around there that has 18-wheeler traffic quite often."
Church then brought up the idea to the other firefighters at the volunteer department in Little Rock.
“I asked the guys if we wanted to go buy some stuff and start cookin’ for ‘em, and we did so,” he told KTHV.
Encouraged by the last weekend's response, the department made the offer again Saturday, with plans to keep continuing the meals during the weekends while the coronavirus continues making it difficult for truckers who just want to get a hot meal as they get much-needed goods to stores. A GoFundMe page also has been set up to help pay for the food provided after the department received multiple requests.
"Any money left over will go towards equipment for our Fire Department as we operate on about $16,000 a year and are 100% volunteer," Quail Creek's GoFundMe page states. "Most of our equipment is out of date and we have older apparatus. Anything given will first and foremost go to our cause to feed the truckers!!!"
