The Boys & Girls Club of Jefferson County visited Trotter Ford Lincoln automobile dealership Monday for the unveiling of its new 15-passenger van.
H. Ford Trotter III made a donation toward the purchase of the van, which was then customized with a wrap featuring pictures of current Boys & Girls Club members.
"We were in desperate need of a van," said Vonysha Goodwin, Jefferson County Boys & Girls Club executive board president. "The van that we had to pick up the kids for the after-school program was having a lot of trouble."
Issues with the van used used daily to transport the kids from school to the club started in 2019, CEO Nyeshia Aldridge said.
"We could not pick up," she said. "We were having engine issues with a couple of our vans."
Insurance specified a particular type of van that was needed that included seatbelts in order to continue coverage, Goodwin said.
Aldridge mentioned the long history of contributions from the Trotter family and when she reached out to Trotter, she was more than appreciative of his contribution.
"Mr. Ford's dad has been a donor of the Boys and Girls club for a very long time, " said Aldridge. "We met and had a conversation with Mr. Ford, gave him a case statement and he ended up donating money towards the purchase. He sold us the van at cost and donated almost half of the amount towards the purchase of the van."
The van was then sent to former club kid Sherrod Dickson of Dickson Sign Co. to wrap it using photos of current club members taken by local photographer Nikita Seahorn.
"The unveiling of the wrapping was exciting," Goodwin said. "This was the newest thing. Covid caused it to take longer than expected for us to get that done."
The van will also be used to transport young people to field trips during the club's summer program. Past summer programs included STEM classes, photography, cooking, gardening, fitness and swimming.
Due to covid-19, Aldridge is unsure what activities and field trips will resume. She's looking for a site coordinator at the Townsend Park site, she added.
"If covid allows, field trips are possible this summer," Aldridge said. "We do plan to take our kids on field trips."
Goodwin said the purchase of the new, updated van has helped them out tremendously with transporting the kids safely.
"Huge thank-you to Mr. Trotter for providing a safe and reliable means of transportation for our members," said Aldridge. "... and to Sherrod and Nikita for making it a 'cool' ride as well."
