We live in unprecedented times. The trucking industry is more important than ever in this pandemic, and drivers have a unique challenge when it comes to eating on the road. When Mike and Jamie Williams, owners of Big Mike’s Pork ‘N Wings food truck in Grand Junction saw this challenge, they knew they had to take action.
The stay-at-home order across the nation had made it difficult for truckers to find a place to sit down for a hot meal. With restaurant dining rooms closed and most drive-thrus not accommodating large trucks, Mike and Jamie knew there was a need that they could help fill. This sparked Big Mike’s idea. They set up shop at a trucker-friendly gas station along I-70 in Grand Junction and began serving free barbecue for big-rig drivers passing through.
After their first night of feeding these essential truckers, they started getting phone calls from other truckers looking for a place to get a hot meal on their way through town. The first night Big Mike’s started “feed the truckers,” they served over 100 hot meals. The second night they had an even larger showing. Once the community got involved, they just kept going. “We’re just trying to do our part and take care of some of the vital folks who are keeping America running. Small businesses can do great, big things, and at the end of the day we’re all in this together. We know there’s hope and light at the end of this tunnel, where we hope to be thriving and not just surviving,” says Jamie Williams.
Alpine Bank saw what was happening and wanted to support the movement. “We wanted to support one of our wonderful small business customers doing a really cool thing,” says Tawni Kelley, director of Community Outreach for Alpine Bank in Mesa County.
Since the Williams have started this movement, they have attracted not only local news media stations, but they’ve received national news coverage from multiple media outlets like USA Today, The Washington Times and The San Francisco Chronicle, just to name a few.
“We are getting close to feeding 500 truckers per day,” Jamie says. “We will continue to feed the truckers as long as we can with the support of our community. We are all in this together!”
| FIND A SURCHARGE-FREE ATM! | |
|
|
|
|
|