Trucker Buddy News
Trucker Buddy news
Cooks make positive difference in children’s lives
Long-term service to children’s education through their volunteer work and selfless dedication earned Ken and Sandy Cook the Trucker Buddy Drivers of the Month award for Nov-ember. Matched with Sandy Zambotti’s fourth-grade students at East Side Elementary School in Johns-town, PA for more than a decade, they began their 11th year in the program by taking time during a two-week vacation in Europe to continue sending postcards.
“They are still as faithful as ever,” says Zambotti, noting that “the class received several postcards from all over Europe. Besides the cards from the USA the students receive every week, they had an added history lesson from several countries thanks to Ken and Sandy.”
The Cooks, drivers for FedEx National LTL out of Middletown, PA, joined the Trucker Buddy program 12 years ago. The couple, who live in Yellow Spring, WV, takes time at the beginning of each school year to visit the school to meet the students, and they go back in the late spring to say goodbye.
“I have been Trucker Buddies with Sandy and Ken for 10 years now. They are the most wonderful people I have ever met,” writes Zambotti in her nomination.
“From one year to the next, the one thing my students loved most has been the Trucker Buddy program with Ken and Sandy,” she says. “When I run into former students (already in high school), they will ask if Ken and Sandy are still my Trucker Buddies. They’ll tell me to tell Ken and Sandy ‘hi’ from them.”
Letters from the students show the positive impact the Cooks have had on them. “I think Ken and Sandy should be Trucker Buddies of the Month because they sent us postcards that help us with social studies,” writes student Taoma. “Ken and Sandy are very special to us,” writes Ashley, making sure her point was made clear by bolding and underlining “very special.”
Many of the students referenced the annual spelling bee the Cooks hold for them, and the fact that their Trucker Buddies encourage them to do their best and do well in school.
Each Trucker Buddy Driver of the Month receives a personalized jacket, along with a check for $300 to spend on the class and $200 in Trucker Buddy merchandise, compliments of program sponsor ACS MultiMedia Advertising. Drivers and teachers can find out more about the program by visiting www.trucker-buddy.org or calling 1-800-MY-BUDDY.
Trucker Buddy Drivers of the Month Ken and Sandy Cook with Sandy Zambotti’s fourth-grade students at East Side Elementary School.
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