From New Hampshire to New Mexico, from South Dakota to South Carolina, from Tallahassee to Tacoma, the Big Rig is all over the place.
All year, the Big Rig – as the 18-wheel truck is known – has been making stops in cities around the country as part of its sponsor’s 70th Anniversary Tour. On each leg of the 30,000-mile tour, community members are invited to sponsor care packages to be sent to U.S. troops overseas.
Following a stop at Riverfront Park in Salem, the Big Rig was in Eugene on Sept. 19, stationed outside Autzen Stadium.
To celebrate its 70th year, Waddell & Reed, Inc., one of the oldest mutual fund companies in the nation, teamed up with the United Service Organization for the Anniversary Tour as a way to thank the country for keeping the company in business for the past seven decades.
Bob Case of Springfield showed up almost immediately after the six-hour fundraiser began at 1 p.m. to lend his support.
“I heard the ad on the radio, so I figured I’d stop by and help our troops out, bring them a little recreation and fun over there,” he said.
Case was one of about 40 people who donated throughout the day. However, the number of care packages that will go to Afghanistan and Iraq from Eugene will be more than 40.
“I’d say about half of them did multiple packages, just from talking to people as they filled out the envelopes,” said Jim Day, who works in Waddell & Reed’s Eugene office.
When the Big Rig initially left Waddell & Reed’s Overland Park, Kan., home base in January, the company’s goal was to send 10,000 care packages overseas, but that number has already been exceeded and there are still 12 stops to go.
“It’s fantastic; we’ve actually topped out just a little north of 16,000 care packages,” said Heather Tucker, district manager of Eugene’s Waddell & Reed office.
Tucker said the plan was to make Eugene’s stop on the Goodwill Tour more than just a fundraiser.
“We tried to think outside the box and say, ‘Hey, what can be fun?’” she said.
The event included performances by the University cheerleaders and tours of Autzen Stadium, and National Guard vehicles were on display.
Like Case, Bob Toycen, a native Eugene resident who lives in Vancouver, Wash., went to Autzen Stadium after hearing an announcement on the radio.
Toycen, a Navy veteran whose nephew is on his second tour in Iraq, has always supported the troops.
When the war started, he donated his Southwest Airlines frequent flier miles to soldiers who needed to report to base.
For $25, he sponsored a care package, which includes a variety of items such as phone cards, playing cards, toiletries and snacks.
Toycen said while there are useful items in the care packages, the gesture is the main idea.
“From my own experience, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s just a package from someone out there that says, ‘Thank you; be safe.’”
He’s absolutely right, according to Sgt. Adrian Wilson of the U.S. Army, who often has people approach him to thank him, shake his hand and offer to buy him meals.
“People, I think, are definitely happy with the soldiers we’re bringing up,” he said. “It’s great to see that kind of support from the community.”
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