Toot Toot! Touch A Truck Zooms Into Columbia!

The Junior League of Columbia presented the 3rd Annual Touch A Truck at the South Carolina State Farmers' Market a few weekends ago and it provided to be a major success. This family friendly fundraiser and community event brought out hundreds of families to get up close and personal with construction machinery, surgical robots, and emergency vehicles.  Kids were able to experience over 30 hands-on exhibits as well as meet the people who build, protect and serve the Midlands.

The Farmers' Market provided the perfect backdrop to promote the JLC's new focus of healthy children.  On top of the many trucks, kids were able to enjoy time in the bounce houses and learn about healthy eating at the Certified South Carolina Grown table and JLC's Kids in the Kitchen booth. There was even an agricultural simulator for the kids to learn about and experience the feeling of crop harvesting right here in South Carolina. From bomb trucks, to antique military vehicles, to CAT equipment, to the da Vinci Surgical Robot, there was something new and exciting for everyone to explore at Touch A Truck.

As Acquisitions Chair, I helped lead the efforts of our committee to reach out to our community and invite exhibitors from all different types of industries.  Equipment came to our event from across the Midlands and we are extremely grateful to the following exhibitors for taking time out of their Saturday to help support the Junior League of Columbia:

97.5 FM WCOS

Blanchard Machinery

Concrete Supply Company

Ducksback, Inc.

LA Barrier

Lexington County EMS

Lexington County Fire Department

Lexington County Sheriff's Department

Military Vehicle Collectors of South Carolina

Palmetto Health

Pioneer SC

Richland County Sheriff's Department

South Carolina Farm Bureau

South Carolina Forestry Commission

Two Men and A Truck

One thing I noticed throughout the day was that as children entered the facility, the squeals of excitement were noticeable when they actually saw what we had in store for them. Even the grown men were fascinated and entertained by the over sized exhibitors!

 I talked with many parents who were very appreciative of the opportunity for their children to safely explore and touch the many trucks that our committee assembled.  It was a great feeling to see the hard work we put into this event turn into such a tangible and memorable reward.  Since this is my provisional year in the Junior League, I especially enjoyed working with our members, our sponsors, and our local community to bring this event together.  The weather was absolutely perfect, and I'm thankful for the entire Touch A Truck committee and the shift workers that worked tirelessly to make this day such a success, particularly the chairs and vice-chairs who went above and beyond for this special event. We're looking forward to building on the success of this year's event and getting to work on next year's Touch A Truck!

Post bye: Maddy Barbian, Touch A Truck Acquisitions Chair

A Provisional Perspective: The Provisional Project

One of the final things to check off to complete the requirements of my provisional year was the provisional project. My provisional project involved Sistercare, a wonderful organization who helps women stuck in tough situations get back on their feet while being surrounded by a caring environment. This project also served as a Done-in-a-Day service project, so we were joined by other Active members of the League. During the project itself, we spent some time talking to one of the women who works for Sistercare; she gave us a great view of Sistercare's outreach and actions and how they are able to do so much for these women who have so little. Upon arriving at Sistercare, we helped landscape and paint a mural in the children's shelter on the property. I worked on the mural, and was very pleased with the results!! The group decided to paint a mural based on Shel Silverstein's book, The Giving Tree.

After some intense effort from various provisionals and actives alike, we all had a final product we were proud of. My favorite part is the little boy!

What is not clear from the picture, but a special addition to the mural, on the tree itself, we included a heart inscribed with "JLC + SC" to remind both the women and children who use that building and ourselves of the bond between our two organizations.

In addition to the mural, we landscaped the outside yard by adding mulch, planting flowers, and tidying up the area around the playground equipment. The difference after we finished was amazing!

Aside from the good we were doing as a group for this organization, it was a great chance to meet other provisionals and actives that I had not met before. One provisional brought along a friend of hers who was not in the league to help out so we got to do a little outside PR for the Junior League! Everyone left with a sense of accomplishment seeing how our efforts paid off and I'm glad I was able to participate in this specific event.

Post by: Meggie Baker