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August 2011
"Ten million different stars am I, But only one spirit, connecting all."
from Spirit Walker Poems by Nancy Wood
Dear Friends,
What a summer! On the last day of school, we picked up our twelve year old granddaughter, Samantha, from her home in Charlotte and began our drive to the Tohono O'Odham Nation in Arizona. Four days later, we were at camp. What a joy to share with Samantha the beauty of the desert and her people. We saw old friends, made new friends and thoroughly enjoyed this 25th summer of TOTOL Day Camp.
We are thankful to each of you whose generous donations helped to make this camp a reality. We are thankful for the leadership of Cathy Baker, Chrissy Rinki, Meighan Wilson and Amanda Dunwoody. We are grateful to Stanley Cruz and the Pisinemo District as well as HOPP and all the volunteers from the Nation, from various places in the U.S. and from Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California. We definitely worked as one spirit to make camp happen.
That same spirit draws us back to South Carolina where we continue our work with some of the forgotten people of our society. Pete is in the local woods each week ministering to the immediate needs of people who live among the trees. We find ourselves asking: "How did they get here?" "What do they do in the heat?" "What will they do in the snow?" "How can we help?"
Pete always tries to sit down with the people and listen to their needs. He watches how they treat each other and how they respond to him. In the beginning there is usually great skepticism toward this smiling man who brings water or bread or fruit. Gradually the shields come down and the people emerge with distinct personalities and life experience.
Pete came home one night and told me about Lilly. He said she was walking slowly around a meadow, picking flowers. She was wearing a dirty tattered dress with an equally filthy apron over it. He called her Lilly because of the image of lilies bordering the apron.
As the weeks have gone by, Pete has gotten to know Lilly and her "boyfriend". It turns out that the older man with her is more like a caretaker, because Lilly is blind. They have been together for many years. He watches over her and makes sure she is safe. Pete now brings them small things to improve their daily existence. They will continue to live in the woods.
Pete is also meeting many families who live in the very cheap motels around town. He has befriended some of the motel managers who tell him about some families who have great needs. There are lots of children living in these rundown motels. In the summer they do not have the advantage of the school lunch program. We help with bread and canned food. As summer ends, they will be picked up at the motels by the school bus. At school, they will receive free lunch and in many cases a food bag on Fridays provided by the generous school staffs.
We are hoping to create a holiday gift and food program for some of these families. We will definitely need your donations to do this.
Our work at the parish outreach continues as we help people get ID cards, birth certificates, food stamps, social security benefits, and Medicaid. Because there is no bus system here in Rock Hill, we do a lot of driving. It is impossible for people who have no transportation to access the help they need.
Among these poor, there is a huge incidence of disabilities. People have worked at physically demanding jobs, only to be injured and unable to work at the same jobs. Because of the lack of education it is not possible to get a "desk job" and so people end up unemployed and sleeping from couch to couch – wherever a friend or family member will help.
I hear myself say to person after person: "It's gonna work. You keep doing your part and we'll continue to help." There are ten million different stories out there, but truly one spirit – the spirit of love and hope that keeps us all going.
God bless you,
Pete and Sue FullertonPlease look at our website: www.truckoflove.org there are many stories that, due to space, we cannot include in our newsletters. Look at Pete's Corner and Sue's Corner.
As summer comes to a close, we are in desperate need of your donations. Our income is not matching our expenditures. The bank account will soon be empty. Each month we have been spending between two and three thousand dollars just for food, bus tickets, and tarps for the many in need. Whatever you can give will be deeply appreciated.
As you look forward to the holiday season- also think of the people we serve. A gift of a warm coat or sweater or a festive meal will help to lift the spirit of a person when they realize they are not alone- there are people who care.
All donations will be made to Truck Of Love 1455 George Dunn Rd. , Rock Hill, S.C. 29730 Our phone number is 803-324-0173
Love, Pete and Sue Fullerton
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~May 2011
Dear Friends,
We keep thinking of the verses from Ecclesiates that begin: “There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven…” So many different occupations, so many evolving seasons. It is our challenge to hear God’s changing call and adapt.
And so it is that we will be going to Arizona this summer to celebrate, with the Tohono O’Odham Nation, the 25th year of TOTOL (Tohono O’Odham Truck of Love) Summer Day Camp. This is to be a transition year as we hand over the leadership responsibilities to our friends and partners of the Tohono O’Odham Nation. This will be the last year that Truck of Love will run camp. It will not mean an end to our relationships with the people or with camp as we fully intend to visit and support camp in the coming years. (Yes! We can still use your donations for this cause.)
We are grateful to Cathy Baker and Chrissy Rinki who have been co-directors in recent years. They have taken camp to a greater level of cooperation among the O’Odham and Truck of Love. We are also deeply appreciative for Truck of Love South and Scott & Mandy Bell as well as Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California and Meighan Wilson.
Chrissy Rinki has asked for your reflections on your camp experience. If you are a veteran of the TOTOL Camp experience – or the Mission San Jose Summer Day Camp (as it was called in the early years) – please consider taking a few moments to write down your reflections on how your experience on the Tohono O’Odham Nation and your camp experience were important to you. If you are a parent of a counselor we also welcome your reflections. If you have pictures they would be appreciated. These will be part of a memory book that will be shared online as well as given as a gift to the O’Odham communities that have welcomed us into their lives. Your Memory Book offerings must be sent to Chrissy Rinki, crinki@gmail.com, by May 16.
Our camp experience has changed our lives in ways we could never have imagined. We have met thousands of people who have influenced how we think, pray and live. We have seen young people turn their lives into vocations of working with and for the poor, the sick, and the disenfranchised people in this world. We are honored to have been given the gift of these years. We look forward to the next season for camp when the Pisin Mo’o District will take the baton of leadership.
At this time of year we also have our local work here in South Carolina. As we move from winter into spring, the needs are increasing.
Sue was in the soup kitchen this week when one of the homeless men, who had just gotten a job with the help of our Outreach Coordinator, came in to talk about what the next step would be for him. He is so eager to work and was trying to think through how long it will take him to get out of the shelter where he currently lives and get his own place. We went over the costs of first and last month’s rent, the set up for utilities, etc. He spent some time trying to absorb what he needed to do.
As he started to leave, he turned and said: “When I can go to sleep in my own bed, I will know I have succeeded.”
Pete has been working with several families in abandoned houses in the woods. Recently we had some severe thunder and wind storms. Here in Rock Hill there were many homes damaged by fallen trees. So Pete was concerned as he ventured back to the woods to see the people he has been serving.
One young woman and her four year old daughter had set up their home under a tarp hung between two old houses. The night of the storm, the mom, Renee, had a hard time getting Jasmine, her daughter, to sleep because of all the lightening and thunder. Finally they both slept, only to be interrupted abruptly at 2:30am when Renee heard a loud crack and became pinned to the ground under the tarp by a huge hickory tree. Renee could hear Jasmine screaming above the thunder and rain, but was unable to get up to go to her. Jasmine was also pinned under the tarp, but on the other side of the tree. All Renee could do was pray. Her eyes were wide open looking into the tarp, listening to Jasmine scream, when the outline of a man appeared.
She screamed “Get me outa’ here!”
The next lightning struck and the form of the man appeared above her with his finger to his mouth and he said, ”Don’t be afraid.”
At just that instant Jasmine stopped crying. Renee felt an unexplained calm, like everything was going to be ok. A few minutes later Renee’s neighbor, Fredric, rescued her and Jasmine from under the tarp.
Renee asked Fredric, “Did you see the fella standing over me, or was that you?”
“Wasn’t me. I heard Jasmine scream, so I coma’ runnin.”
Renee asked Jasmine how she remembered the situation. She said, “I was scared until the man standing over me told me not to be scared.”
“What did the man look like?” Renee asked Jasmine.
“He looked like blue light, and he had a smile, and I wasn’t scared anymore.”
In this Easter Season, we are reminded that there is a time for everything. A time for us to listen, a time for us to hear, a time for us to let go, a time for us to encourage, a time for us to live our faith, a time to love each other and this gift of life.
Thank you for being a part of this journey with us. We need your prayers and appreciate your donations. You are giving people hope in the form of water, food, tarps, bicycles, medicine, transportation to doctors and hospitals, and any number of other life necessities. You have kept TOTOL Camp going for 25 years. Your history of generosity has changed lives. Thank you.
God bless you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~January 2011
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your continuing generosity with Truck of Love. Your prayers and donations make it possible for
us to serve some of the most forgotten people in our country. Many of you wrote beautiful and touching notes to
us over this past Christmas. We thank you and we thank God for your presence in our lives. Your assistance to
Truck of Love is making this winter less harsh and more bearable for so many.Over the years of working with the poor, we have been blessed to witness many miracles. We are reminded of
Jesus' words in the Gospel of Matthew: "…blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they
hear." We know there are daily miracles all around us – the events or people who cause us to marvel in wonder at
the awesomeness of our all-present Creator.The day before Christmas, Pete was delivering a cooked Christmas dinner to the community he has been serving
who live in the woods near us. One of the men helping him unload his truck had recently lost his wife. "Scout"
as he is called, had previously shared with Pete how his wife had taken sick and died. This day, as Scout was
assisting Pete, he was talking about his wife and how he wished he had been able to give her the one thing she
had always dreamed about.Pete asked what her dream had been. Scout said his wife had always wanted a pair of pink satin high heels.
Shoes! Pink, satin, high heeled shoes! That was not what Pete had expected to hear.
They finished unloading the truck and Pete was giving Scout the last of the food bags from inside his truck cab
when he noticed one last bag on the floor of the cab behind the driver's seat. He bent over to retrieve the bag and
saw something pink inside. As he lifted the bag, he opened it and found a pair of pink satin high heels.Pete handed the bag to Scout and said, "Here they are." He and Scout stood with tears in their eyes in silent
amazement. Scout took the shoes and walked away.Those of you who know Pete are aware that he is constantly moving food and clothing with his truck. He says he
never saw those pink high heels enter his truck.Some miracles happen over time. For the past 24 summers we have been part of the unfolding miracle of what
began as the Mission San Jose Summer Day Camp and has evolved into the TOTOL Day Camp on the Tohono
O'Odham Nation in Arizona. This next June will be summer twenty-five!In the spring of 1986, as we were leaving the village of Pisinemo, having delivered a truck load of clothing and
household items to the Mission, I asked Sister Patrice: "Is there anything else we can do for you?"Her reply was very simple: "Can you help us create a day camp for the children? The boarding schools have
closed and the children will be home all the time now. Summers are long and hot and there is nothing for the
children to do."My reply (as my thoughts and concerns raced around my brain): "Yes. We've never done anything like this, but
we work with youth and I'm sure we can get people to help."We had no idea how to "do" a camp. We'd been loosely connected with some small camps that our children
attended. We'd worked with youth in our home parish of St. Nicholas in Los Altos, California. We were brimming
over with willingness. But we'd never run a camp.Three months later we were there with nine brave volunteers (including us) and camp happened. We like to say it
was one of the hardest and best weeks of our life. That week changed our lives.I often tell the story of the morning that altered my outlook on what was happening at camp. It was about 6am on
the Wednesday and I was exhausted, looking for some peace in the morning desert. I was walking across the
basketball court anguishing over the events of the first two days of camp. The children were so quiet. It was hard
to know if they were happy to be at camp. The volunteers we'd brought with us were beyond exhaustion. Sister
Patrice and Sister Anne were laboring in the kitchen with no air conditioning. The days were hot and long and
then the monsoon rains made everything just a little more difficult.As I walked that morning, I saw a person running from the east side of the village. She got closer and I saw it was
one of the girls in my teen group. She ran toward me and without slowing, reached out and pushed a crumpled
piece of paper into my hand. I stopped and uncurled the remnant of paper that had a poem written on it. I've lost
the paper and the poem, but the message is still clear in my mind. She had written: Why do these people come
700 miles to be with us – why? They come here because they love us.We have been blessed to see and hear. We thank God for these marvelous awesome twenty five summers.
If you have stories about summer camp that you'd like to share, please send them to us. We'd love to make a
place on our website for your memories. If you want to contribute to this summer's camp – we'll gladly accept your
donations – make your checks payable to Truck of Love and designate them for camp. If you want to be part of
the summer camp staff volunteers please e-mail Cathy Baker at cbjoker8100@comcast.net This summer the
camp dates will be June 11-26. All camp volunteers must be present for the full two weeks.Please check out our website www.truckoflove.org We are writing more stories about our daily work in "Pete's
Corner" and "Sue's Corner".Know that we think of you and keep you in our prayers. Please pray for us and the people you help us serve
through Truck of Love.God bless you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dear Friends,
“Preach the Gospel always: when necessary use words.” This quote is commonly attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi who is one of our heroes. He was a man of action deeply rooted in Gospel values. He had a difficult time embracing his call from God because it was so counter to the culture of his time.
We too have struggled over the years to follow God’s call. For us this had led to a devotion to the forgotten people in our society – the people who fall through the cracks.
Since moving here to South Carolina, we have been drawn into our parish and the Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen. As you read in our last newsletter, we have been helping a lot by driving people to the far flung agencies that will help them. Here in Rock
Hill there is no regular bus service.One day recently I was attempting to help a man apply for a job. It seemed like a simple thing, but he needed a South Carolina ID to apply. The problem was that his ID had expired several years ago because he did not have the five dollars to renew it. In order to get a new ID he needed a birth certificate, social security card and proof of residency. A trip across town to the county records office and we discovered he could not get a birth certificate without a South Carolina ID. This meant a drive south of here to Chester where his mother lives so she could go into the records office and apply to get a birth certificate. We’re still working on the ID because a second trip to the DMV required that we have a social security number.
The problem with the social security number is that when his mother applied for his social security card she used his nick name, not the name on his birth certificate. She never went to the county to clear it up, so he has worked in the past under one name, but his ID was in another. That hadn’t mattered in the old days, but in our post 9/11 world it matters a lot.
This gentleman wants to work, but he cannot even apply for a job until he gets his records straightened out. As we drove from place to place, I kept talking with him and encouraging him to keep coming back to the kitchen. He apologized for making me go to all this trouble. I don’t want him to get discouraged and give up. He sleeps in the homes of various friends and simply wants to be working and be able to have his own place.
Lots of men and women come to the soup kitchen looking for food, help finding work, getting medication or food stamps or ID cards or any number of other things we all have. But many people in need do not come to the soup kitchen. There is a whole society that does not trust the system. These might be people who have worked their whole lives, only to find that since they have been paid in cash, they have no benefits. They are sometimes just out of jail. Some have recently lost a job and simply cannot go to a shelter because they do not want to be separated from their families.
Since our move here, Pete has been drawn to the woods. He sees encampments as he drives the rural roads. Being Pete, he stops his truck and ventures into the trees to see if people need help. Because of this, and his willingness to listen to people’s stories, he has met a large community of individuals who live “off the grid”. These people work when they can and some panhandle. They live a hard life. Some are stopping in the area on their way somewhere else. Some look as though they are there for the long term. What they all seem to have in common is their heartiness and creativeness and ability to survive. They have some common fears as gunshots ring out in the woods during hunting season. They each have need for shelter and warmth as the rain and cold start to settle in.
Pete was recently introduced to an elderly couple who live in the woods, the Foleys. Here’s Pete’s story in his words:
When I was introduced to Mrs. Foley, I couldn't see her husband who was standing behind a tree. The young man who introduced her to me was almost reverent in his approach to her. She appeared to be in her mid-sixties and was toothless. Her gaunt face showed many years of hardship and neglect.
"Who are you?" she asked me.
I said hello and introduced myself. I explained what I'd been doing with people who live in the woods.
She gave me a slow shallow grunt then stuffed her mouth with an enormous amount of white bread and walked behind a large tree. An older man came into the open from behind that tree and faced me as his wife disappeared. Mr. Foley wasn't able to talk very well, so the young man who had introduced me to Mrs. Foley took up the conversation.
"Mr. Foley's been sick and can't talk too good, mister. What'cha think's wrong with 'im?"
The entire right side of Mr. Foley's face was swollen and his eye was shut. He was holding his jaw as though he was in pain. What he had looked like a tooth ache, but I am no doctor, so I couldn't diagnose his malady.
"Can you talk?" I asked Mr. Foley.
He nodded his head and said: "I've got a toof ache."
I offered to take him to a dentist to have the tooth looked at, but he declined saying he was a Seventh Day Adventist, and that he did not believe in doctors or medicine.
"Well then, what if I go to the health food store and see what I can get to help you?" I asked.
Mr. Foley thought that would be alright then added, "But no doctors!"
Mrs. Foley came from her hiding place behind the tree. Her cheeks were bulging with the bread she had been chewing. She quietly removed the mass of soft dough from her mouth and fed it gently to her husband who could barely swallow it. She fully intended that he not die of starvation.
I left them to eat and went off to the store. After getting advice from a helpful pharmacist, I returned armed with three bee pollen and clove oil and passed on the pharmacist's instructions.
Three days later I went back into the forest with high hopes and I was not disappointed. Mr. Foley had undergone a remarkable healing. His demeanor was jubilant, and he was dancing around like a little boy.
I am now accepted as a member of this small community living on their own, off the grid, in the forest. I am learning things every day I would never have known about forest living or about the people living there.
A few days ago I was sitting with the Foleys. I watched as they lifted rocks from the fire pit with sticks and placed them in a large pot of water. Soon the water was boiling. Silent couples came through the surrounding trees to sit and wait. They each carried small bundles. One couple brought an onion. Another pair brought celery. Several more added carrots, potatoes and anything else they had retrieved from various dumpsters located behind local grocery stores. Finally after several more rounds of hot rocks, the soup was hot and the vegetables were cooked and all began to eat.
I've been making regular trips to these woods with tarps, blankets, water, bread and whatever other small needs the people have. My reward came as a complete surprise when Mr. Foley who is feeling so good joyfully exclaimed to me one day, "I think I will become a Catholic!"
We are reminded once again: "Preach the Gospel always: when necessary use words."
God bless you all for your continued help.
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~August 2010
Dear Friends,
We wish each of you could witness what happens at the TOTOL Daycamp in Arizona! In June we were blessed to be able to travel to Arizona where the 24th summer of TOTOL Camp with the children of the Tohono O’Odham Nation was another great success. Students from Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California joined faithful camp leaders Chrissy Rinki, Cathy Baker, and Meighan Wilson to make this experience a reality for more than 200 O’Odham campers and counselors. Watching our Truck of Love volunteers working so hard and so joyously with their O’Odham partners - all for the good of the children - was inspiring. Everyone is looking forward to next year when camp will be twenty-five years old!
Thank you for your continuing support in prayer and donations. Camp continues because of you and the dedication of lots of volunteers who offer their time and talents so the children of the desert can have a fun and informative camp experience.
Since our return from Arizona, we have had a very long hot summer. Most of the people we serve do not have cars. They walk or ride bikes-which can be dangerous when it is 90 degrees and 80% humidity!
Pete routinely visits some areas of the local woods where people have set up camps. Often these people have been lured to Rock Hill by the promise of work. When they arrive they frequently find that there is no work and no place where they can afford to live. Pete always takes water to the people and then discovers what other needs they may have. Cook stoves, tarps, Styrofoam coolers, ice, sleeping bags, underwear, bike tires and tubes, and food seem to be the most requested.
Both Pete and I have been working with our new St. Mary’s Parish outreach coordinator who is assisting the guests of the Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen located in our parish hall. We also help with the purchase of needed items for the soup kitchen such as paper goods and cleaning supplies.
Many of the soup kitchen guests are in need of very basic things like South Carolina ID cards, duplicate Social Security cards, updates on food stamps, rental or utility assistance. Some need to go to the doctor or to job interviews. Transportation is a problem here as there is no regular bus service. Pete and I do a lot of driving because Rock Hill is very spread out and it can be ten miles or more from one place to another.
In the process of driving people about, we are building relationships that are very special. One day last week, I accompanied a woman, May, to an appointment with her social worker. We sat in the office waiting room for quite some time. May told me a little bit about her life, we shared a few family stories. When it was time for her to be called in to her appointment, she invited me to come in with her. I sat in the corner and listened as she talked to her social worker about her desire to get into a drug rehabilitation program. The social worker was amazing with her and soon was on the phone and had a place for her in Charlotte, NC. All May needed was a ride to get there and she would be admitted to the 28 day drug rehab program.
Off May and I went to Charlotte where we again sat together in another waiting room. With my help, she filled out multiple forms. She put down my phone number as an emergency contact.
May and I waited almost three hours before she was seen by the staff. After being assured that she was safe and was admitted to the program, I started to say goodbye. She turned to me and threw her arms around me and said, “I love you!” and then was gone through the door.
I just met May. She opened herself to me and shared some bits of her life story with me. She was a gift to me. I look forward to picking her up at the end of her 28 days.
We thank you so much for enabling us to do this work. Thank you for your prayers and your continuing donations. We find at this time of year that donations are pretty slim. Since our move to South Carolina our donations have dropped markedly. We have cut back on our assistance to individual people because we just don’t have the money. But some things are necessities: $5.00 for a prescription for high blood pressure (there is a co pay on Medicaid), water for families living in the woods, or gas for the cars so we can take people to their appointments.
Pete and I and Truck of Love will continue to work with the poor here in our new home town of Rock Hill. Though we cannot give each person what they want, we know God will provide all we need.
God bless you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~April 2010
“I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was naked and you clothed me;
I was homeless and you took me in.”
-Jesus (paraphrased by Mother Teresa)“Hungry not only for bread – but hungry for love; Naked not only for clothing- but naked of human dignity and respect;
Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks – but homeless because of rejection. This is Christ in distressing disguise.”
-Mother TeresaDear Friends,
Happy Easter!
If you have ever lived in a place where it snows, you know the beauty that is Easter and spring. It is truly a period where new life accosts all the senses. Of all the seasons, this is the one where renewed hope takes over. The dark and cold of winter is past and all things are possible.
This spirit of hope drives us ever more to make sure that the people we encounter are not hungry for the basic necessities of life for the body or the spirit. The promise of Easter requires us to reach out to those who seem abandoned and lost - or as Mother Teresa says: “hungry for love”.
“Christ in distressing disguise” greets us each day here in Rock Hill, South Carolina in many different forms. He is the man on the corner with the sign asking for food. She is the former prostitute who can no longer work because of illness. He is the man just released from prison, eating at the soup kitchen and looking for a place and way to live in peace. She is the woman on Medicaid who is paralyzed and needs help to get a motorized wheelchair. He is the neighbor who needs a listening ear.
Each day we thank God for you. Your prayers and donations make it possible for Truck of Love to continue to help the hungry and the homeless. We know many of you are having financial troubles of your own. The notes of encouragement you send to us are treasured even more because we know of your struggles. This is a very difficult time for you and the people we serve. Our prayers are with you.
This summer we will travel back to Arizona for a short time to be present for some of the TOTOL (Tohono O’Odham Truck of Love) summer day camp in the village of Pisinemo on the Tohono O’Odham Nation in Southern Arizona. We look forward to seeing many old friends and meeting lots of new campers and counselors. Your support of this camp has offered hope to several generations of the O’Odham.
Our partnership with the O’Odham has grown far beyond any expectation we may have had. Both the out-of-state counselors and the children of the O’Odham Nation have benefitted from our connection. In the past twenty four summers we have watched children grow into adults. Children of our first generation campers now come to camp. Parents and grandparents of campers come to help. Tribal organizations and individual tribal members come to camp to share O’Odham customs and wisdom. TOTOL Camp is our Easter offering of hope and new life. So many people who come to camp talk long after it is over about the spirit they feel during camp. Our campers and counselors now have a long history of creating a place where we can each experience the spirit of the risen Christ – where each person is treated with respect, dignity, love and acceptance.
Each of you has been a vital part of this camp experience. Some of you have been counselors, some of you donate money and others of you keep us in prayer. Whatever your role, we need you. We thank you for your continuing help.
This year the TOTOL Camp and leadership training will be June 14-25. Please remember all of us in prayer during this time.
God bless you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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February 2010
Dear Friends,
I came across a quote from Henri Nouwen the other day that struck home: “…community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but of one another. Community is the fruit of our capacity to make the interests of others more important than our own. The question, therefore, is not ‘How can we make community?’ but, ‘How can we develop and nurture giving hearts?’”
We thank you for your giving hearts. We thank you for being part of our community of Truck of Love. We thank you for your ongoing support of this work of reaching out to people who are experiencing difficulties in their lives. Your notes of encouragement, your donations and your prayers are an inspiration to us.
Each day that we wake up here in Rock Hill, South Carolina and read our morning paper, we are gifted with stories of people helping each other. We quickly discovered here in our new town, that there is a great outpouring of help for people in need. It has been our task these few months to see where we can fit into what is already happening. We continue to find little places that seem to be invisible.
Today, Pete is working with a family of four who live in two tents in the woods. They came to Rock Hill with the promise of a job that did not materialize. They have been in the woods about a month. In that time we have had two weeks of nights below freezing temperatures as well as about six inches of rain. The Dad looks for work with a seat-less bike as his transportation. He is attempting to make money any way he can. Today Pete was able to help him transport two water heaters (that a homeowner wanted to get rid of) to a recycling center where he was delighted to get $35.00! Pete has helped the family with tarps, sleeping bags, shoes, cooking fuel, and a bike seat. One step at a time…
We are learning more about where to send people for help with their utility bills, where to find shelter and where to get a meal. There is always a need for transportation and a listening ear. It looks like there is plenty of work for Truck of Love here in Rock Hill.
We are looking forward to this summer and the 24th annual TOTOL (Tohono O’odham Truck of Love ) summer day camp and leadership training. There is a dedicated group of “Truck of Lovers” who are who are responsible for the operation of this yearly event in the Arizona desert: Chrissy Rinki, Cathy Baker, Meghan Wilson, and Scott and Mandy Bell with Truck of Love South. Camp costs about $24,000.00 to operate for two weeks. The money goes to transportation/gas (some children and counselors come from villages more than fifty miles away from camp), food (there is a kitchen staff that prepare breakfast and lunch for over 200 participants), and materials for arts and crafts and sports.
During the summer, this is the largest gathering of children on the O’odham Nation. Over the past 23 years summers there have been thousands of O’odham who have come to camp. There have been hundreds of volunteers from all over the world who have come together to make camp happen. We have witnessed a generation grow up. We have been honored to be able to be a vehicle for sharing O’odham heritage. Some of our campers have gone on to college. Some work in tribal agencies and live and raise their families in their villages. Each summer former campers come back - if just for a short visit - to reconnect with the staff who they know and with that feeling of love and acceptance that is present throughout the camp experience.
The O’odham campers have benefitted greatly from TOTOL Camp. But our volunteers also have had life changing experiences. Truck of Love South is interested in hearing your stories and keeping in touch with you. You can e-mail them at TOTOLCamp@gmail.com .They want to create a place where you can be in touch with others who have experienced camp on the Tohono O’odham Nation. They would love to hear our stories about time with Truck of Love. They also want to build a network of people who want to see camp continue.
Truck of Love will send at least $12,000.00 to help camp this summer. Truck of Love South is looking for more donations to the reach the actual cost of camp.
Thank you for your giving hearts. We love hearing from you and we will continue to help you in our prayers. Please pray for us.
God bless you and your families,
Pete and Sue
We are grateful to each of you for your continuing support of the work of Truck of love. We appreciate your spreading the word. Please pass on this newsletter to someone you think might be interested in our mission to serve God’s poor. Or refer your friends to the Truck of Love website: www.truckoflove.org
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dear Friends,
Greetings from South Carolina! We are surely enjoying the changing of the colors of the trees here! As we go out each day we have God’s magnificence assaulting us from every side. The rain has made the grass green and on sunny or cloudy days, there cannot be a more beautiful place.
The rain and chilly temps make it especially difficult for the homeless people here. We understand that our city of Rock Hill will open emergency shelters on November 1 and keep them open until February. This is good news. The soup kitchens are busy serving more people than ever, because of the high unemployment. The schools are providing lunches to children at no cost and even collecting food to send home with them on weekends – because so many children come to school hungry.
Truck of Love is still filling in the cracks. Men, women and families in shelters need money for toiletries or underwear. People who have no place to go in the daytime need rain ponchos to help them stay dry. One man needed a bicycle so he could get around town. Another man was in tears when Pete handed him a few dollars for necessities.
Pete has met some people who choose to stay out of the “system” (because of pride or distrust) and live in the woods. Many of these people came to Rock Hill looking for work. Truck of Love has helped them with food, tarps and small cooking stoves to help them survive until work becomes available.
Your generosity makes this possible. We thank God each day for you.
We have been blessed to become part of an amazing parish here in Rock Hill, St. Mary Catholic Church. This week we had a “revival” led by Rev. Roy Lee, currently from Decatur, Georgia. The theme was “Charge, Challenge and Choice”. The final evening, Fr. Lee reminded us that God gives each of us the choice to follow Him. This choice involves stepping out of ourselves and letting God step in. As followers of Jesus, we are called to prayer and action. God has given each of us unique gifts that are meant to be used – in our families, the workplace, and our communities.
Over these many years of working with the people involved with Truck of Love, we have been blessed to witness what happens when people forget themselves and reach out to another human being. Jesus doesn’t ask us to change the world with grand gestures. He simply asks us to care for the people around us. That’s all Truck of Love has done over the years. You have helped us respond to the need of individual people. As Mother Theresa was fond of saying – if she hadn’t picked up that one person, the thousands would not have been helped. It begins with helping one person.
Our prayer this holiday season is that each of us can answer the call of Jesus to overcome our fear and follow Him. We thank you for helping us respond to the people here in South Carolina.
God bless you.
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~August 9th, 2009
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your overwhelming presence and support at our Truck of Love Dinner that took place on May 2. What a wonderful celebration of you – our faithful friends. We are grateful to St. William’s Parish and Father Paul Weisbeck for a wonderful liturgy and the use of the parish hall. We thank Scott and Russell Bell for our music, students from Saint Francis High School who helped serve and clean up, and our Board of Directors who are such an inspiration to us. We wanted this celebration to highlight you – because Truck of Love cannot exist without each of you who prays for us and supports us in so many ways.
Our summer journey began in the first week of June when we accompanied thirteen students during the Saint Francis High School San Jose Immersion. It was a graced experience from Monday through Friday. We worked with people in shelters and soup kitchens. We had great experiences with children and the elderly. We feel blessed that this was our final event before Sue’s retirement from Saint Francis High School.
On June 17 we headed east to Arizona. We spent two days with the staff of the TOTOL (Tohono O’Odham Truck of Love) Summer Day Camp in the small village of Pisinemo on the Tohono O’Odham Indian Nation. This was the twenty- third summer of camp. It is an annual highlight for more than 230 O’Odham (children and adults). This year the daily activities included presenters from KOHN (the O’Odham radio station), Bernard Siquieros from the Tohono O’Odham Cultural Center, Kitt Peak National Observatory (who built the solar system with the children out of toilet paper and play-dough), HOPP (Healthy O’Odham Promotion Program, and Jonas Robles (an elder who talked about traditional O’Odham games). Thank you for your donations that keep camp going. We’ve seen lots of changes in 23 years. Our friends on the reservation can hardly wait for next year!
After camp we continued east to our new home in Rock Hill, South Carolina. We have now been here five weeks. Rock Hill is a very spread out city of about 60,000 people. Unemployment is between 12 and 23 percent – depending on who we talk with. The people are hardworking, loving, gracious and welcoming.
We have discovered a whole new world for Truck of Love. Pete is out each day, meeting people in the neighborhood, visiting shelters and soup kitchens, or hanging out at the senior center down the road on the Catawba Indian Reservation.
In one short week, he managed to fund the repair of the washer and dryer in a downtown woman’s shelter. He supplemented donations by buying butter and soap for another shelter.
Pete met a woman who was trying to get home to Georgia. She and her husband had come to Rock Hill to work. When the jobs ended, her husband returned to Georgia to find new work. The wife was left behind with their three children until the Dad could afford to bring them home too. Their time at the local shelter was at an end and they still had no way home.
Because there is no longer a Greyhound bus stop in Rock Hill and the taxi ride is $50, Pete drove the woman and her three children into Charlotte, North Carolina to catch a bus to take them to their home. He was able to buy the four bus tickets and give them some food money to help them on the six hour ride.
This morning Pete visited with an 81 year old man, a former bricklayer, who lives in a local shelter. His monthly income is $127.00. Pete was able to give him money for shoes and socks.
We are reminded of the gospel about Jesus feeding the five thousand. The story tells how when Jesus asked, a young boy gave up his few barley loaves and fish and all were fed. That gospel comes alive with each donation we receive. A pair of shoes, a bus ticket, or some laundry soap – we share what you provide.
The end of summer finds us assisting people in our new home Rock Hill, South Carolina. The work of Truck of Love goes on. However at this time of year we are counting our pennies. We are ever grateful for your donations and assure you that they still go to people in need.
Thank you for your support.
God bless you,
Pete and Sue
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~May 2009
Dear friends of Truck of Love,
Thank you for your continuing support and good wishes. We have sold our home, and are preparing to relocate in South Carolina in mid-June.
Truck of Love
1455 George Dunn Rd.
Rock Hill, SC 29730We are winding down our work in the Bay area, but are still helping people with food, bus passes, gas to get to work and an occasional night in a motel or help with rent.
As we say goodbye to the people we have been helping, they have two responses: “What are we going to do without you?” and then “I’m going to try to do what you do – collect a little from lots of people and help the people in my building” (or street or neighborhood). As we leave this area to go elsewhere, it is our hope that each of you reaches out to at least one person. Wherever it is – carrying bottles of water in your car to give to people who are holding signs at the off-ramp of the freeway or buying an extra hamburger for the person waiting outside McDonald’s – it is important for each of us to do as Jesus commands: “fear not” and “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
Since the announcement of our move, we have heard from several people who live in the South Carolina area. It seems there will be many opportunities for Truck of Love in the east. We will keep you posted on our adventures.
For now, your donations can still be mailed to PO Box 269, Los Altos, CA 94023, or to our new address: 1455 George Dunn Rd. Rock Hill, South Carolina 29730.
You can also reach us by e-mail at: peteandsue@netgate.net
May our wonderful Lord bless, and keep you,
Truck of Love-
Pete and Sue FullertonTOP OF PAGE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~February 2009
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your continuing support and encouragement through your donations and your prayers. Many of you sent checks at Christmas time with notes that read something like this: “My friends [family] and I decided this year we did not need anything. We want to make a donation to Truck of Love in honor of each other.” You have brightened the lives of several hundred people – during the Holidays, but also every day.
This year, 2009, will be a year of change in many ways. A small change for Truck of Love will be Sue’s retirement from Saint Francis High School Campus Ministry in June. This will enable Sue to spend more time with Pete in his work with the poor. This also means that Sue and Pete will be selling their house in downtown San Jose. The plan is to move to South Carolina after the house sells.
Truck of Love has served the poor for over forty years. In 1968 Gordon Stewart began the work at our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Union City where Father Elias Galvez was a young priest. When Gordon began taking truckloads of food and clothing to Arizona where Father Elias moved to serve the poorest of the poor; Gordon’s project was dubbed “Truck of Love” by his 13 year old daughter, Leslie. Pete and Sue got involved in 1971 when Pete made a fateful trip with Gordon and came home telling Sue about the hungry children they had encountered in the Arizona desert. Gordon died in 1978 and Pete took over the work; expanding to the Tohono O’Odham Nation in Arizona, colonias outside Tijuana, Mexico and work with the street people in the San Francisco Bay area. Truck of Love still supports Father Elias with his work where he is now stationed with Franciscan Ministries in Guaymas, Mexico.
No matter where Sue and Pete live, the work of Truck of Love will continue. Our intention is to continue, with your generosity, to support the camp in Arizona where we have enjoyed twenty three- years of collaboration with the people of the Tohono O’Odham Nation. We will continue to help Father Elias in his current ministry with the poor in Guaymas, Mexico. We will also go to South Carolina with our eyes and hearts open to the needs of the people there. We are excited to see where God will lead us.
We are deeply grateful for your support over all these years. Know that we will continue to use your donations for those people God puts in our path.
God bless you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“God is hidden in those realities we most often shun, and run from: People who are broken and in pain; our own brokenness, our own pain.”
Dear Friends of Truck of Love,
We thank you for your continued support of our work. As you know too vividly, the needs of our society are becoming greater every day. It is a struggle some days for us to see God in the attitudes of the desperate people we encounter and yet, it is when we find God in each person that we realize the joys of this ministry.
This holiday season will see many of us “tightening our belts” because of the financial unrest in our world. We just had a discussion about how we, Truck of Love, can spread our donations among the people who call on us for help. It is looking like there will be less meat, less vegetables and fruit, less eggs and bread, and more rice and beans. Pete goes shopping each day with women who have no way to get to the store. What cost $70 last week, cost $100 yesterday.
Three times in recent days, Pete has talked with women who are so desperate to feed their families that they became unreasonable and irrational when he explained the little bit that Truck of Love could do. Instead of accepting something, they left – went away – with nothing. We have not seen this kind of desperation before. We have to look deep to see God in these situations – but certainly this is Christ crucified. We pray for them daily.
The good news is that there are many we can help in concrete ways. Each day we offer people assistance with transportation, food, quarters for laundry, or a ride to the grocery store or clinic. Many people are grateful for what Truck of Love can do. We constantly remind them of the generosity of you who give so much to Truck of Love.
Truck of Love exists because of you. It has been 42 years since the first truck went to Arizona. Over all these years you, our donors have kept this work going. You are individuals as well as groups. St. Lawrence School in Santa Clara recently collected school supplies for children. In august, Los Altos United Methodist Church collected for us with their Buck-of-the-Month program.
St. William Catholic Church has a bi-monthly collection for Truck of Love. The people we serve thank you all.
We enter this holiday season with great hope. The more we see the person of Christ in each person and in ourselves, the more joy we discover in our daily struggles. We are in this work together with you and because of you. Thank you for being the presence of Christ to us.
NOTE: “Old Men Dream”, Pete’s story about his journey of homelessness, has touched so many people in such personal ways we could only imagine before publication. We are grateful to each of you who have written to share the insights you have received from reading this story. We are attempting to get this book out to all of you. If you want more copies, please let us know. We just want people to read it – we feel blessed to be able to help people understand life from a different perspective. Thank you.
In the peace of our Christ,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~August 2008
Dear Friends,
Summer began, as it has each June for the past several years, with our involvement in the Saint Francis High School San Jose Immersion. Ten students, who will enter their senior year in August, spent a week working with people whose lives are very different from theirs. We met men at the St. Joseph the Worker Center where they go to find work, take a shower, or eat a meal. We ate with the clients of Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen. We prepared meals for and visited with the ladies who reside at the Catholic Worker House. We spent a day at the First Christian Church doing some odd jobs and later fixing dinner and meeting with the houseless residents to hear their stories. We helped the elderly at the John XXIII Day Center. We worked with the children at Washington school and spent some quality time with the teens at Washington United Youth Center (where we had a very spirited game of indoor soccer!). We spent the whole week working, playing, laughing and praying together. Mostly that week we built relationships and broke down barriers that seem to separate us from so many people in need.
Our final challenge to the ten students came from some left over bottles of water. On the last morning of the Immersion, each student received two bottles and we asked them to give those bottles to someone in need over the weekend (water is a rare commodity for the poor on the streets of San Jose). We can hardly wait to meet with the students in August to hear their stories.
Summer continued with an amazing summer trip which included a visit to the Tohono O’Odham Nation in Arizona. We were present on the opening day of the 22nd annual TOTOL (Tohono O’Odham Truck of Love) Day Camp. The opening blessing was given by an O’Odham woman, Verna. She emphasized reverence for life and the sacredness of each person. We needed her message and her presence because just a week prior to camp one of our O’Odham counselors had been killed in an auto accident. Verna helped us to acknowledge the loss of Leah and to honor her memory by being present at one of the things Leah loved – TOTOL Camp.
Following Verna’s blessing, Stanley Cruz, Pisinemo District Chairman welcomed all the campers and counselors. He first spoke to the children in their native O’Odham language and then continued in English. He told the children how important it is for them to hear their language and learn the O’Odham customs. He told the children to ask their elders about the sacred mountain in each of their districts. He emphasized how important it is for the children to understand where they have come from so they can know who they are.
He also spoke of the TOTOL Camp experience. He said that this year the Pisinemo District granted the camp a four year automatic extension of permission to be in Pisinemo. This is a great honor because we have gone to the district council each year to receive permission to come to the Nation with camp.
For the second year we were able to conduct camp in the Pisinemo Recreation Center which is under the direction of Samuel Fayaunt. This is a beautiful new center which makes everything about camp easier – there is even air conditioning! We are very thankful to Samuel and his dedicated staff for welcoming us into this space.
We saw many old friends who have been at camp since that first year, 22 summers ago. There were several campers who are children of previous campers and many counselors who have graduated from camper to counselor and a dedicated kitchen staff. Camp cannot function properly without the timely, efficient kitchen crew who prepare two tasty meals each day for 180 people! The dedication of the O’Odham and the visiting counselors is inspiring. Days begin between 5 and 6am and often go until 11pm when exhausted staff fall onto the ground under the stars for a short, warm night’s sleep (unless they are awakened by the summer monsoons that dump like a waterfall on unsuspecting sleepers!). We’ve always said we can do anything for a couple of weeks!
We have been blessed over the years to meet and work with people of many different backgrounds and beliefs. We find ourselves at the end of this summer embracing a deep gratitude to God for directing us and supporting us. We find God through the presence of each person we meet. Each of us comes in need. Each of us has some gift to offer. Each of us benefits from our relationship with the other.
It can be as simple as the man who knocked on our door last night. He rides a bike because he has no other means of transportation. He had fallen off the bike and scraped his hand. When we opened the door he showed us his little wound. We brought him in, washed his hand, put a tiny band aide on the cut and sent him on his way. He just needed to show someone who would care, to talk to someone who would listen, to receive a tiny bit of comfort. Each of us can do that.
God bless you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
Pete’s book, “Old Men Dream”, has been getting rave reviews.
People are saying: “I couldn’t put it down, but I wanted it to last forever.”; “I cannot find the words to express my love of this book.”; “Would you please send a copy to my friend who was visiting and read only half way through….” ; “I want God to be that real in my life again.”
This book is the result of the diary that Pete kept when he made a trip eleven years ago as a homeless person. This is a story of what happens when we respond to God’s invitation. Let us know if you’d like a copy.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~April 2008
“…I will pour out My Spirit upon all mankind.
…your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions…” Joel 3, 1Dear Friends,
In the Book of Joel, the prophet describes the working of the Spirit among the people and the renewal of our lives as children of God.
Truck of Love is the result of the Spirit challenging us to renew our lives and the lives of the poor by treating each person with the dignity and respect due to every child of God. A typical day of renewal for Pete and Truck of Love goes like this:
8am A young man comes to the door of our home. He’s swaying in the doorway, his speech is slurred and difficult to understand. He has a vacant look and tells Pete for the fifteenth time this year that it is his birthday. He wants “something”. Pete listens. Eventually the young man walks on down the street.
8:30am Pete is off to take an elderly woman grocery shopping. This woman lives with her two granddaughters. She works but can’t make enough money to pay the rent and buy groceries.
10:30am As Pete is driving home he sees a young woman standing on the street. She has the look that signals to Pete that she is in distress. He pulls the truck over, gets out and approaches her. She is new in San Jose. She has no place to stay and is hungry. Pete gets her some food and a motel room for the night. He gives her some phone numbers of local agencies that might be able to help her.
12:30pm Pete returns home. A woman with two small children knocks before he has put his keys down. She needs a gas card.
12:35 Pete is on his way into the office in the back of our house. There is another knock on the front door. An elderly man needs milk for his granddaughter. Pete gives him the milk that is in our refrigerator.
12:40 There is another knock, it’s a woman and her friend. They had heard they could get help at “Kindness House”. They go away with gifts cards for gas and food.
12:45 Another knock - Pete opens the door and the woman standing there is hysterical. Pete invites her in to sit down on the couch. She is a person we help on a regular basis. Through her tears, she tells Pete she has just been evicted. Her landlord had asked her to pay the month’s rent in cash - just the day before. She did that, cashing her paycheck and giving the landlord $1400. This morning she got a call from an agency telling her that her apartment building was under new ownership and she had 24 hours to get all her things out of her apartment before there would be a lock put on the door. She came by to cry and just talk to someone. By the time she left she had contacted several friends to help her pack up her belongings and get them to safety. Pete sent her away with a little cash and the phone number for legal aide and other housing opportunities.
It is getting harder and harder for the poor. The Spirit of our God works through each of you, as Truck of Love helps these people in need. We have a vision of a world where each person has food, housing, clothing and medical care. It takes each of us to help the Spirit of God make that vision a reality – to renew the people of God.
God bless you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
Eleven years ago Pete had a series of dreams that directed him to leave our comfortable home and live as a homeless person on the streets of the United States. Each year, as we have talked with groups about the work of Truck of Love and Pete’s homeless adventure they have consistently said this ought to be a book. He kept a diary of his travels and the people he met. He has put these into a book titled “Old Men Dream”. This is a book about following your dreams and saying “yes” to God.
If you would like a copy, please call 408-295-7320 or e-mail peteandsue@netgate.net.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~March 2008
Dear Friends,
Ten years ago, after a series of dreams and an extended period of discernment, Pete left our comfortable home and became homeless for fifty-three days. During that time, he had lots of amazing experiences. But the most long-lasting result of those days on the road was the conviction that we need each other. There is no way he could have survived as a homeless person if he had not met people along the way who helped him when he was in dire need.
These days, that experience of needing each other comes back loudly and clearly. Our local creeks are swelling with the rain. The homeless people who have chosen to live near the water’s edge are being washed out of their encampments. A few days ago, Pete visited an area where he knew people would be in trouble. There is a railroad trestle and an overpass on the outside of town where the creek flows. He arrived to find four people crouching on the steep hillside under the trestle where they had tied their sleeping bags to shelter themselves from the rain. They sat on the mud attempting to get a small tarp to cover their huddled bodies. The rain and mud flowed around and under them.
Fortunately, Truck of Love had just received a donation of tarps, rain ponchos and new blankets still in plastic bags. It became Christmas on the side of the hill that day. He walked along the trestle tossing plastic wrapped blankets to lots of people trying to find protection from the water. That day he was able to help a few more of God’s children.
We need each other. In the Acts of the Apostles we read about being the Body of Christ – how if one part of our Body suffers, we all suffer. By the same token, we are each given different gifts that are meant to help this Body survive and thrive.
One of the best parts of our work with Truck of Love is being close to so many people who use their God given gifts to help people in need. We are grateful to each of you for sharing your gifts with us and the people we serve.
Of special note at this writing is the Fundraiser for the TOTOL (Tohono O’Odham Truck of Love) Day Camp that was held at the end of January. The team of Cathy Baker, Meighan Wilson, Theresa Beltramo, Mandy and Scott Bell created an afternoon so filled with their spirit and energy, that we were all overwhelmed with happiness. We are grateful to the Beltramo family who opened their home to host this event. We were graced with the presence of past, current and future camp participants as well as many people new to us who came because of the invitation of a friend. It was a great afternoon and over $7,000.00 was raised to get us closer to our goal of $23,000.00 for this year’s camp expenses.
These days the TOTOL Day Camp reaches over 170 children and adults on the reservation. More than 50 teens and adults from the reservation come for a week of leadership training which not only helps all of us to learn camp activities, but teaches skills useful in all our lives.
When we started the camp 22 summers ago, we reached children from the three southern, most remote districts on the reservation. Today the camp is advertised on the O’Odham radio station and we count participants from each of the 11 districts of the reservation. Much of the growth of the camp can be attributed to the work and leadership of Chrissy Rinki and Cathy Baker, the current co-directors of TOTOL Day Camp. We are thankful for their presence in our lives and the lives of the O’Odham youth.
We need each other. We are thankful to each of you who has donated to the TOTOL Day Camp either through the fundraiser or your general support. You enable the O’Odham old and young alike to experience two weeks each summer when they can learn and play in a safe and healthy environment.
We are thankful for all your support. You warm people with blankets and shield them from the rain with rain ponchos and tarps. You provide groceries, medicine, shelter, and clothing to countless women, children and men. It is only with your help that we can continue this work.
Your help often comes in the form of prayer. We ask you to continue to pray for the people we serve and for all those who help us. We also ask your prayers for the family of Bobbie Goodwin, a friend and a long time supporter of this work of Truck of Love. Bobbie died on February 13 after a long battle with cancer.
God Bless you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends of Truck of Love,
Thank you for your constant prayers and assistance with this work we call Truck of Love. At this time of year, when we look back, it seems as though the stories are always the same – it’s the names and faces that change. There is the single mother of five who can’t get a room in a homeless shelter because she has teen age boys. There is the father of two, whose wife is an addict, who is trying to get his act together so he can have custody of his children. There are the teens who live in abandoned houses in downtown San Jose and who terrorize the older people living on the streets. There are the tiny newborn infants in parent’s arms in the food line at the soup kitchen.
We read in the gospel of Luke: “…she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in the manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
It seems there will always be those among us who suffer deprivation. They lack housing, food, medicine, clothes, and comfort. It is for us to respond to each person we meet with love, kindness, and compassion. We thank you for helping us do that in concrete ways. This Christmas we will give out gift cards for gas, food and Christmas presents. Whatever you can do to help will be appreciated.
As we look back on this year we also remember the people who have gone to their reward with God. Our dear friend Phil McCrillis died in January. He was a person who encouraged us to go into Truck of Love full time. When we had all sorts of excuses about why we couldn’t do what God was calling us to do, he’d say: “Why not? Why wait? Go for it!” When Phil died this year we were reminded how the existence of Truck of Love really goes back to his insistence that we follow our hearts. We are thankful for his presence in our lives. We miss his presence with us here on earth.
This past year also saw the completion of the 21st year of the camp for the Native American children of the Tohono O’Odham Nation in Arizona . The camp we started because there was nothing for the children to do in the hot summer of the desert has grown into a major happening on the reservation. Next to the annual Saint Francis Feast in Pisinemo, Camp TOTOL (Tohono O’Odham Truck of Love) is the longest continuous running activity on the reservation. Last summer it cost over $21,000 to make camp happen.
It’s been quite the year and we are ready and eager to begin all over again in 2008. We wonder what God has in store for us….
Again we go to the Gospel of Luke and hear Mary’s response to the angel: “I am the Lord’s servant.” We pray we will enter this new year with the resolve to continue to be God’s servants. We pray we will respond to God’s continuing call with a resounding “Yes!”
God bless each of you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
PETE & SUE WITH FR. JIM HANLEY, S.J. WILL BE FACILITATING A
MARRIED COUPLES RETREAT
JANUARY 25-27
JESUIT RETREAT CENTER OF LOS ALTOS
"BECAUSE WE ARE CHOSEN"
.
God invites each of us into our marriage.
When we say yes to God, everything
changes. Marriage is our road to salvation.
How do we respond to God's call? Join other
married couples who want to slow down and
take time to be together to pray, laugh, and
rediscover our call to be holy in our
relationship with each other and the families
we create.
SUPPORT & CELEBRATE
TOTOL CAMP FUNDRAISER
Music by the Bell Brothers
Silent Auction
JANUARY 27
11am-2pm
MENLO PARK
TO RECEIVE AN E-VITE WITH DIRECTIONS
TO THE CELEBRATION PLEASE EMAIL
MEIGHAN AT mewilson@sfhs.com
This event will buy camp supplies, food and
provide transportation for kids to get to camp.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2007
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14
Dear Friends of Truck of Love,
What in the world was Jesus saying when He talked about the kingdom of heaven belonging to the little children? We think Jesus is pleading with us to keep the awe and wonder that we had as children. He is telling us that we must trust and love like a child does. He is advising us that we must remain open and excited about life.
We witnessed lots of “little children” this summer. Some were three or four years old. Some were forty, fifty or eighty years old. Each of them exhibited, for a time, that spirit of fun that we associate with “little children”.
What a summer! We began in early June by being privileged to assist with the Saint Francis High School Holy Cross Immersion in downtown San Jose . We escorted 25 teens and six adults from five Holy Cross High Schools to a variety of our favorite places in and around San Jose . We spent time with the disabled people at Agnews Developmental Center , the “houseless” people at the CHAM shelter, the kids at Washington School in the Catholic Charities CHORAL Program, the teens at the Washington United Youth Center , the elderly at John XXIII Multi-Service Center and the Eastside Center , the hungry at Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen.
We watched as our Holy Cross teens interacted with people from all sorts of backgrounds. We saw their compassion and understanding grow during their week of service. We also saw the response from the people they came to serve. Faces brightened into lots of smiles, there was laughter and for a time we were all “little children”.
At the end of June we went to Arizona to spend a couple of days with the TOTOL (Tohono O’Odham Truck Of Love) Camp in Pisinemo. It is so hard to describe how wonderful it was to be at camp this year. This was the 21st year of the camp and it was held in the new Pisinemo Recreation Center . The camp day was the same as it has been for many years – the children and counselors rotate through a variety of activities – including sports & games, arts & crafts, cultural activities, and guest presenters. More than 100 children were at camp – with more than 40 Tohono O’Odham counselors and kitchen helpers. The children came from all over the reservation – some places over an hour’s drive away.
It is apparent to us that camp is having a huge influence on the people of the Tohono O’Odham Nation. We are seeing some of the original campers returning with their children or coming back to help at camp. Many of our original campers are working for the Nation as youth workers in the various programs sponsored by the Nation. Many of the camper’s parents and grandparents return to camp each year to help in a variety of capacities from cooking to presenting cultural activities. They look forward to camp from the time camp ends until the counselors arrive for leadership training the following June. It is their chance to be “little children”.
We are very grateful to Cathy Baker and Chrissy Rinki for taking on the camp leadership for Truck of Love. We are grateful to Mandy & Scott Bell for helping Camp through Truck of Love South. We are grateful to the Saint Francis High School students and graduates who were camp counselors this year. We are grateful to Samuel Fayuant and the staff at the Pisinemo Recreation Center for hosting our group.
We are grateful to you for your continued help to Truck of Love. You provided most of the funding for the TOTOL Camp this summer.
You also help us with our local work. Just this week we helped a mother and her children get into a motel until they can be accepted into the battered women’s shelter. You helped save this woman and her kids. This week you also provided two mattresses for a father and his kids so they didn’t have to sleep on the floor of the shelter where they stay. It is because of your generosity that we are able to help people with food or clothing, beds, bus passes, quarters for laundry or any of the hundreds of other requests we get in a month. Thank you.
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April 6th, 2007
It is Good Friday, the day Christ died. We know Easter Sunday is coming. Christ is risen. Alleluia!
So often we encounter people when they are in the midst of death: a brother whose sister is murdered, a mother whose husband has had an accident, or a child whose father has left the family – never to return. Pete meets them on the streets of San Jose or they come to our front door. The stories are predictable the same, but the pain is as individual as each person. Because of your generosity, we are able to give them something tangible – money for funeral, gas for the car so they can get to a job, bus tokens so the children can get to school, quarters for laundry and Safeway gift cards for food. Your generosity helps them experience the risen Christ, the Christ of hope.
In early March Sue went to Arizona for the annual preparation meeting for the TOTOL (Tohono O’Odham Truck of Love) summer camp. This will be the 21st year of summer camp in Pisinemo, a small village two and a half hours southwest of Tucson. The meeting was attended by some of the O’Odham who have helped at camp in the past few years as well as Charissy Rinki and Cathy Baker, the co-directors of the camp hand the two Franciscan sisters who live in the village – Sister Carla and Sister Ange. There was a time during the meeting when they went around the table talking about why they were there and what camp means to each person. Two comments stood out. One person commented that with the new recreation centers opening in each district on the reservation (Built with money from the casinos.), they are discovering that many of the youth leaders are coming from the TOTOL camp experience. – the camp is training leaders for the children. The youth who have come to camp are returning year after year, their children are coming to camp; their parents are helping at camp. It has become a positive influence on the whole family.
Life is still very hard on the reservation. But to sit at the table and listen to each person talk about the positive effect camp has had on the lives of the participants was truly an experience of the risen Christ – The Christ of hope.
The summer camp will be held at the new recreation center in Pisinemo which is under the direction of Samuel Fayaunt. He has generously invited the out- of – state camp staff into the facility for the two weeks of camp leadership training and camp. The new kitchen will be available for preparing meals for the 180+ daily campers. As you can imagine – there is a lot of excitement about using the new facility. We are grateful to Samuel and his staff for opening their space to the TOTOL camp.
There will be six St Francis High School students joining the camp staff this summer. They will be accompanied by one of their teachers, Meghan Wilson, who is returning to camp after an eight year absence.
Camp expenses are huge. Last year van rental for the two weeks was $8,000.00. The vans are essential so the children who live in the outer villages (some as far as fifty miles away) can get to camp. Food for breakfast and lunch each day for 180+ people is the next major cost. In addition last year there were about 40 people each night for dinner, because many old friends came by to say hi and stay to share the evening meal. We estimate camp will cost about $12,000.00 this year. Whatever you can do to help will be appreciated.
After the forty days of Lent, Christ is risen! There is hope for all of us. We see the progress of death and resurrection play out each day. We are grateful to each of you for being part of the miracle of resurrection for our local brothers and as well as those who live in far away places. Your prayers and good works make a difference in many people’s lives.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dear Friends of Truck of Love,
This is truly a season of Thanksgiving! We are thankful to you for your continuing generosity to God’s poor through Truck of Love. You are clothing the naked and feeding the hungry.
Daily people come to our door or leave messages on our phone – pleading for help. Men and women just out of prison, families living on the banks of the Guadalupe River in San Jose, people staying in homeless shelters who lack clothing and personal items, little children and mothers wet and cold from the rain are those helped by Truck of Love.
Pete received a call last week from a mother with seven children. Her husband left and she is without his income. Her youngest is one year old. Though Pete had no idea how he could add another family to the growing Christmas list, he just couldn’t turn her down. He visited with her at her house and it was chaos. He told her he would try to find someone to help. It was that same day a class at Saint Francis High School asked Sue about adopting a family. It was a match made in heaven!
This Christmas season many families are asking for gift cards so they can shop for their own families. Many churches and schools have committed to donating some gift cards, but we have a great need for gift cards in any amount for Target, Wal Mart or Safeway. We ask that if you send gift cards to us that you also send the purchase receipt – so we know the amount on the card. It also helps to have the receipt in case the store tries not to honor the card.
We have more than 150 families that we are committed to serving with Christmas gifts and food. As always, if you want to adopt a family you can call Pete at (408) 295-7320. Adopting a family means you commit to calling them, asking about their needs and either delivering food and gifts for Christmas or sending gift cards to them. When you adopt a family you are making a firm commitment to help make their holiday a little brighter.
We thank you in advance for your help. God bless you and keep you now and always.
We are grateful to so many individuals and organizations this year who have coordinated donations: Kaye Svedeman’s annual food drive, Greg & Pat Plant’s annual gift of 500 rain ponchos, Saint Christopher’s School in San Jose, Notre Dame de Namur grade school in Burlingame, Holy Spirit Parish in San Jose, Saint William Parish in Los Altos, Los Altos United Methodist Church, Los Altos Town Crier Holiday Fund. You are the hands of Christ reaching out to the poor.
Thank you to our Board of Directors: Nel Anton, Mary Alice Callahan, Glen Haubl, and Phil McCrillis. Their guidance and encouragement is priceless.
Pete and Sue along with Father Jim Hanley, S.J. will be giving a Married Couples Retreat at the Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos on the weekend of February 2-4, 2007. The theme of the retreat is “Strength for Our Journey.” These weekends are a great way for married couples to renew friendship with each other and with God in a very safe, fun, relaxing and spiritual atmosphere. You can look on line at www.elretiro.org
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~July 2006
Truck of Love
LOVE- “Always watching – Always caring – Reaching out to a hurting world – Seeks Justice and prays for strength “
It’s been two days since our return from the Tohono O’Odham Indian Reservation in Southwest, Arizona. We are exhausted, but very happy. This is the twentieth summer camp and we saw many positive changes.
We have not been physically present at the day camp since the year 2000, although Truck of Love has continued to finance much of the camp expenses. The day to day planning has been carried out largely by Cathy Baker and Chrissy Rinki, with a lot of assistance from many others. Camp TOTOL (Tohono O’Odham Truck of Love)is in very good hands.
This year we had one week of leadership training with the O’Odham who wanted to help at camp. We were deeply moved on the first day the number of O’Odham who were present for leadership- We had 47 O’Odham teens and adults participating! Combined with the 15 people we brought, we had a group equal in number to the whole camp the first year in 1986!
When camp opened this year on June 26 we had 180 children and adults who ate breakfast that first day! We quickly went back to the food planning to revise our quantities – 25 dozen eggs, 60 pounds of ground beef, 20 pounds of pasta, etc…..
Sue worked in the kitchen with 15 O’Odham adults. They had so much fun! Working with one small four burner stove and several outside wood burning grills made of adobe covered with plaster, they turned out two meals a day for campers and counselors.
Pete came in toward the end of the second week of camp and boosted everyone’s tired spirits with his music and presence.
The kids who came to camp were all smiles. There were lots of children of those original campers of 1986.
On Sunday, July 1, we had our 20th Anniversary Celebration. The program included a Tohono O’Odham blessing by Anthony Flores words from the District Chairman, Johnson Jose, songs from the Pisinemo Traditional Singers, dance music from our favorite band:” Desert Spirit”( several former campers play in this group) and a special Buffalo dance by the Hunter family.
We cherish this time we were able to spend with good friends. We see lots of progress since we were on the reservation. The young people are taking an interest in the traditions, culture, ceremonies, and language of their people. The tribe is providing more services to meet the needs of the elderly and the youth. There is diabetes awareness, healthy eating programs (we had training with the O’Odham kitchen helpers about healthier ways to cook traditional foods), programs about culture and language, and more drug counseling available. More of the youth are attending college and graduating!
Youth recreation services are improving in the districts- we had a youth director from the northern part of the reservation. We spent time savoring the sunrises, and sunsets, the monsoon rain, the ragged doge, but most specially the people. Their life is still very hare. Drug addiction is a terrible problem. Unemployment makes everything an effort. Yet they come together.
Camp this year turned out to be more costly than we had anticipated. We received an anonymous of $10.000.00 designated for the camp that kept us afloat. But we had to rent four vans to get the kids to camp each day – rental alone was $8,000.00! Each day , cost of materials plus incidental expenses….
We thank you for your continued support and prayers. You have made hundreds of people happy this summer.
We’re back to our local work which never stops. Each time we help someone with food, lodging or bus passes we tell them it is you who are the ones who are helping them – we are just the conduit between you and them. Thank you!
God bless each and every one of you.
Pete and Sue Fullerton
P.S. If you know anyone who has an industrial stove (six burners, griddle, two large ovens – with racks!) who could get it delivered to Pisinemo – it would sure make cooking for 180 people way easier! Please ask anyone and everyone you know to see if that can become a reality.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~March 31, 2006
Dear Friends,
Where does the time go? It was just yesterday when we were pleading for help for Christmas. Thank you for enabling so many families to experience a little extra joy for the holidays. Every family likes to celebrate and your generosity enabled many people to have that special holiday feeling.
Now it is spring and we are soaked with the rain. Water logged people arrive at our door each day. The emergency shelters have announced their seasonal closing. More people are back on the streets. Your help is always needed.
We also look forward to this coming summer. In June Sue will accompany five Saint Francis High School students to Arizona for the 20th year of the camp on the Tohono O’odham Nation. By our estimates this is the longest continuing summer activity for the Tohono O’odham children on the reservation.
After twenty years of camp we now have the sons and daughters of our original campers in attendance. The camp staff has gone from mostly outsiders we bring in; to a mostly O’odham leadership, with some outside help from Truck of Love. Several years ago the O’odham chose to change the name of the camp to TOTOL (Tohono O’odham Truck of Love) Camp. Our partnership has been enriching for all of us.
On Saturday, July 1 in Pisinemo, Arizona , the site of the camp, we will have a 20th Anniversary celebration. Pete is coming in for the weekend. Everyone is welcome- we are hoping some of you who were at the camp in the early years might want to return for a couple of days! Of course it will be in the middle of summer, temps are in the 100+ range and lodging is at least an hour away in a small town called Ajo , Arizona . But if that doesn’t scare you, please feel free to join us. Our celebration will include music, food and fun! We will schedule it for midday.
If you decide to come, please let us know – we will need to alert the reservation police that there will be out of state cars driving in. call Pete with questions at 408 295-7320.
When we started the camp with Sister Patrice and Sister Anne, we never imagined we would still be there twenty years later. Although we, Pete and Sue, have not been present at the camp for the last five years, there is a loyal group of people who have carried on each summer. They have been dedicated to a vision of an environment where the children are nurtured in a safe and welcoming community. We are delighted to return this summer to be with them.
With our local people in need as well as the summer activities, our budget is preparing to stretch even more. Although we have not been physically present at camp, Truck of Love had funded it each year. Camp costs about $10,000 – this covers food for two meals each camp day for about 140 people, transportation to bring the children from villages as far away as fifty miles, camp supplies and any variety of incidental expenses. Camp costs are on top of the approximately $8000 we spend each month to serve the people of this local area with food, clothing, transportation, lodging and emergency medical help. We thank you in advance for your support of all the Truck of Love endeavors. You are truly the hands of Christ reaching out to people in need.
God Bless You!
Recently we have been blessed to speak with several Just Faith groups in the San Jose Diocese. Pete has spoken at St. Williams and St. Thomas Aquinas as well as in Social Justice classes at Saint Francis High School. It is always a gift for us to meet people who want to know about the work of Truck of Love. God calls each of us to some special work – God has given each of us talents to be used in the service of others.
“What good is it, if a person claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him? Suppose a person is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed”, but does nothing about the person’s physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 1:14-17
It would give me great joy if you could meet Lynne. She is a middle-aged woman, really quite simple, who we have known for about 15 years. Our daughter will never forget one Sunday when Lynne came to our house and wanted to clean up her car so she could live in it more comfortably. At that time, Julie was a teenager and she innocently volunteered to help Lynne. About 15 minutes into this project Julie called me outside to see what she had uncovered – maggots in the upholstery. All we could do was scrub and vacuum and hope we had cleansed the car of the pests. Lynne was getting ready to have her children for a visit in her home – her car.
A few years later, Lynne was on our doorstep again, This time it was Christmas and she wanted some help with gifts for her son and daughter. They would be spending Christmas day in her car with her. She had a puzzle of a Christmas tree and really wanted a flat board so they could work on this puzzle together in the car.
Today, Lynne’s children are older and have been living for some time with their grandmother and aunt. But recently these two women were in an auto accident and can no longer care for the boy and girl. They now live with Lynne in her car.
Each day your donations enable Truck of Love to help people like Lynne. These are the people who fall through the cracks of our society. Some people have homes, some have cars and some need bus passes or food. All of them need a loving person to listen to them – to help counter their fearful existence.
Thank you for your helpful embrace.
Pete
We are entering the “holiday” season. As I sit here at the computer, it is early October. Already in the first 6 days of October, Pete has sixty-five families who have asked for help at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. He is receiving more than 30 phone calls each day from people in need of some kind of help.
We must match each of these requests for help with one of you who wants to help!
THANKSGIVING ADOPT-A-FAMILY
Last year we helped 130 families with food for Thanksgiving. Of these families only 80 were adopted by you – the other 50 families received Scrip from Truck of Love to take to the grocery store. Our goal this year is to have each of these families adopted by you. We need your help!
· Call Pete at (408)295-7320 or e-mail him at peteandsue@netgate.net
· PLEASE Adopt-a-family for Thanksgiving
· Buy food and deliver it to a family (you can choose the size of the family)
· Donate food and/or money to buy food and we will deliver it
· Help on Saturday, November 18, to sort and deliver food to families in need (we will meet at St. Nicholas School in Los Altos beginning at 10am – call Pete for details)
CHRISTMAS ADOPT-A-FAMILY
Last year we helped 198 families at Christmas. Of these there were 50 non-adopted families that received scrip for gifts and food from Truck of Love. We desperately need your help by adopting a family! Here’s what you can do:
· Call Pete at (408)295-7320 or e-mail him at peteandsue@netgate.net
· PLEASE adopt-a-family for Christmas
· Buy food and gifts and deliver them to the family
· You can choose the size of the family
· We recommend no more than $10/person for food
· We recommend no more than $25/person for gifts
· Donate food or gifts or money and we will deliver to the family
· Help on Saturday, December 23 to sort and deliver food and gifts to families (we will meet at St. Nicholas School in Los Altos starting at 10am– call Pete for details)
UPDATE ON ROBERTO
Many of you have read about Roberto on our web site www.truckoflove.org. Please check out the web site for all the information. Roberto has finished his treatment in the United States. He has returned home with some new equipment and new medicines. Kate and Greg Kremer continue to be in touch with the family and, as needed, are sending medicines to them. We are about to pay the last of the bills – your donations covered weeks of care in some very specialized physical therapy programs. Roberto and his family are deeply grateful to each of you who cared so much to sacrifice your hard-earned dollars to help them. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. This is a lifelong journey for this family.
TIDBITS FROM TRUCK OF LOVE SOUTH
Scott, Mandy and Zoe Bell have sent us their newsletter about last June’s summer camp on the Tohono O’Odham Indian Reservation. Thanks to your continuing donations, we were able to help fund the summer camp (even though this was the first year Pete and I were not present). Thanks to your generosity Scott and Mandy and their able staff had an incredible three weeks with the O’Odham leaders and children. The camp tradition has become a reality. This is an annual event that children and adults of the tribe anticipate with great excitement.
I just had an e-mail from one of our original campers from 1985. She is now mother of two children and lives in Tucson where she has a job. She wanted me to know that her children go to visit their grandmother in Pisinemo each summer just so they can attend the camp. They look forward to it all year. Thank you to each of you who helps make this possible.
THANK YOU Shoreline Printing in Mountain View - Kathie Behnke for our labels and mailing list - Scott at Sherman’s Auto in Mountain View for keeping our vehicles in good running order - Tom Smith for keeping our computers up and running - Rob Perrier our webmaster (Please e-mail him and let him know what you think about our web site.) – Mark Smith for web site help – Scott and Mandy Bell –Nancy Novak and John Akers for long service on our board of Directors (they have moved out of the area) – Nel Anton, Mary Alice Callahan, Glen Haubl and Phil McCrillis, our remaining Board members - Fr. Elias Galvez,OFM and the Poor Clares and all of you for your prayers for the work of Truck of Love – we are well aware this work does not happen without your continued prayers.
PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS
Larry Bell who died just as our last newsletter went to press. Larry was a long-time supporter of our work and was the father of Scott Bell who has now formed Truck of Love South. Cind Tresser, who died very suddenly last month. Cind was a participant on two Truck of Love trips – one to Tijuana and one to the camp in Arizona . We are grateful to each of their families for designating Truck of Love for donations in memory of Larry and Cind. We will continue to remember Larry and Cind and their families in our prayers and ask you to also remember them in prayer.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~LOVE- “Always watching – Always caring – Reaching out to a hurting world – Seeks Justice and prays for strength “
Dear Friends of Truck of Love,
Since our last newsletter we have received so many wonderful notes from so many of you. We give thanks to our God for your prayers and support!
Every year on Christmas there is a reading from Isaiah that fills me with hope and joy for the coming year. In part it says:” The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light….For a child is born to us….His dominion is vast and forever peaceful….”
During this year we have seen many kinds of darkness: the darkness of family abuse, drug dependency, physical hunger and sickness, the darkness of despair and death. We have listened to stories that can’t be possible, but are real.
Recently I met Sheryl. She is a mother of three teenaged girls, and one eleven year-old boy. Currently they are living on the second floor of a low rent apartment complex. Tow years ago the family had a father and lived in a house in a neighborhood much like yours or mine. Late one night in January of 2004 the Dad was returning home from work. He was struck and killed by a drunk driver. The father was insured for just enough to pay for the funeral and a few months of rent on the house.
When money ran out for the rented house, Sheryl and her children had to move in with her late husband’s parents. In July of 2004 the in-law’s home burned to the ground and the children’s grandparents were killed.
Friends of Truck of Love have adopted Sheryl’s family for Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Once again, that light of the Christ child is beginning to shine in Sheryl’s life.
You continually bring that light of Christ to us and to those we serve. Your prayers and your support are witness to the vastness of Christ’s light and peace.
Merry Christmas!
Pete and Sue Fullerton
Thank you to the clients of the Laurel Street Center in Santa Cruz for stamping and stapling our newsletter.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~March 18th, 2005
LOVE- “Always watching – Always caring – Reaching out to a hurting world – Seeks Justice and prays for strength “
Dear Friends of Truck of Love,
It has been a busy time around the house lately. I came home one afternoon to be greeted by a woman who was in the process of writing a note to me. She was carrying one small child in her arms and had another holding onto her belt.
“Hello,” she said. “I was going to leave this note with my phone number so you could call me. I’m glad you came home while I was here.”
I greeted her with” How can I help?”
“A friend told me to come here. She said there is a kindness house on Margaret Street. They will never turn you away.”
I gave her my last Albertson’s gift card. She gave me the note with her phone number. She had written” To whom it concerns: I heard about your generosity to the less fortunate and here I am with hopes you can help me and my 2 children out in anyway possible.”
She was one of eight families I saw at our door that afternoon.
The next day I had fifteen boxes of food and fifteen hams from St. Isadora’s Parish in the East Bay. I had told people to come by the house between 2-4:30pm. The food was gone in the first hour.
Times are tough for the poor. According to Sandy Perry of the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry in downtown San Jose, there were released in February by the Interagency Council on Homelessness that showed the Silicone Valley, the richest area in the nation, has now become the homeless capital of Northern California. We live in downtown San Jose - we know it’s bad.
Your donations help Truck of Love to continue to serve the poor. Work here in Silicon Valley as well as continue to help communities in Mexico and Arizona.
This year the camp for the Tohono O’Odham children will celebrate its 19th summer. Though Sue and I no longer go to Arizona for the camp, there is a wonderful staff of people who conduct camp for the children of the desert. Your donations continue to fund the camp – this year Truck of Love will give the camp $8,000.00 to help provide summertime fun for the more than 150 children who come. Check out the camp website at www.orgsites.com/ca/totol/
Thank you for your continued generosity to God’s poor. You helped several hundred families during Thanksgiving and Christmas with both food and gifts. Thank you to Los Altos Town Crier Holiday Fund and the many donors who contributed to the generous check we recently received.
We are so blessed to live in a house that the people on the streets have dubbed the” kindness house”. It is your generosity that helps continue to serve the people who come to our door in San Jose. Your donations are spread in a wide arch each month from Mexico to the Tohono O’Odham Reservation in Arizona to the wider San Francisco Bay Area. Thank you from hungry children and desperate mothers and fathers.
During this Easter season we are reminded so clearly of the hope we have each day as we begin again after suffering through many little deaths in our lives- losing loved ones, losing a job, changing patterns in our lives. It is the message of Christ coming through loud and clear that after all death there is resurrection! We are people of hop. Thank you for sharing that hope with the poor.
God Bless you all,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
Note…
Mark your calendars.
If you are a married couple and want to spend some reflective time with each other next year, Sue and I are helping facilitate a Married Couples Retreat at the Jesuit Retreat House in Los Altos February 17-19, 2006 . See the Jesuit Retreat House website for details www.elretiro.org/
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dear Friends,
Last week we received an envelope in the mail. When we opened it we found three scraps of paper. On the torn and ragged pieces were photographs. One picture shows an incredible bunch of purple grapes with red and green and gold grape leaves – really stunningly beautiful. The other shows several horses in a pasture yellow with mustard blossoms. The third is of a two story white house and a white Adirondack chair sitting in the front yard covered with leaves from the maple tree above it.
In the margins of these pictures there is writing: “Happy Thanksgiving! & Merry Christmas next month! Here’s a Thanksgiving picture of fall leaves…. We lost all our Christmas stuff (our little tiny imitation tree w/our little decorations…) are all gone!!! We lost our car in that fire. It’s hard living in cars, trailers or garages with no way to cook for the holidays or wash up or use a phone. I sure wish my family could be in a house. I hope there will be a few funds for some store cards – we only replaced a few clothes… I’ve been praying and doing the best that I can for my family. I don’t have a phone so I gave you my address… Thanks, L”
The note comes from a woman who has lived in her car for many years. She is very simple and wants little from live, but she doesn’t have the necessities. She has tried to work, but she is so simple she has a hard time holding a job. She has two children who cannot live with her. She has a mother she tries to care for.
Many people served by Truck of Love are just like “L”.These are people who fall through the cracks of our social service structure. During this time of the year we help people with blankets and sleeping bags, tents and cook stoves, food and clothing, bus passes and medical care.
This year several church groups are collecting gifts, which will be distributed to our regular clients. The Los Altos Town Crier Holiday Fund will help us tremendously
We thank you for your continued prayers and support. We cannot do this work without you. Please know that the people served by Truck of Love feel blessed in this season of hope to be the recipients of your generosity.
God Bless you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~LOVE- “Always Watching – Always caring – Reaching out to a hurting world – Seeks Justice and prays for strength “
Dear friends,
Thank you for your continuing generosity. You are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and caring for the sick.
Truck of Love is serving more and more people who “fall through the cracks”. These are the poorest of the poor in this valley: the people who live under the freeways, along side the creeks, in the underbrush. There are whole communities that move from place to place. They take care of each other and usually don’t let outsiders see where or how they live. Some people have a little income that buys some food. But emergencies happen. People get sick and need medical attention. They need new clothes to replace the ones that they have no way to clean. One older woman who cares for a group of people said: “I sure would like some ice cream.” Thanks to you, Truck of Love can give some measure of comfort to these children of God.
Truck of Love helps lots of people who are also clients of other agencies. There is a huge collaborative effort going on among agencies that serve the poor. We frequently get calls when an agency cannot provide everything an individual of family night need. Sometimes it is a bus ticket home, or help with part of the rent, or a ride to the doctor, or cleaning an apartment to prevent an eviction notice.
Truck of Love also helps community of Laotian refugees in Santa Clara valley, several communities in Tijuana and one in Guaymas, Mexico. Our work on the Tohono O’Odham Indian reservation in Arizona is continuing with the summer camp for the Tohono O’Odham children.
This holiday season we will continue to meet the daily needs of the ever growing population of poor in and around San Jose. We do not have the time this year to organize the Adopt- a- family program as we have done in the past. The daily routine requests for help are more pressing this year. If you have a desire to work directly with a family, Pete can give you the name of a family for you to contact and help. The gifts that organizations are giving to Truck of Love will be given out to our regular clients.
The phone calls keep coming. The need keeps growing. The bank account is going down. We are saying “no” to an increasing number of people. We need your help now more than ever. At the rate we are spending your money we will be broke before December. Pete, our one employee, has not gotten his regular check for several months.
Our budget is small – we took in $150,000.00 last year and we currently spend about $12,000.00 each month.
Please consider supporting Truck of Love with your donations. The people we serve are deeply grateful to you.(We keep telling them we are not rich, they have many people who care about their welfare.)
Blessings, Pete, and Sue Fullerton
Note:
Thanks for all of you who have sent donations for Pete’s CD. We have your address, and we will get a copy to you as soon as we can. Included on the CD are Truck of Love favorites like “Let’s Get Together, “If You Want To Live Life Free”. Day By Day” and many more. These make great Christmas presents!
Check out our new updated website. Thank you to Mike Nevarez our new webmaster. Thank you to Rob Perrier for many faithful years of web mastering service. And thanks to the whole Smith family for computer and CD help. www.truckoflove.org
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~September 1st, 2003
Dear Friends,
Thank you for helping Truck of Love, help God’s poor. One of those poor went home to God this summer.
Art died July 2nd,2003 at the age of 83 – a good , long life by most standards.
We had known Art since 1984 when Pete met him at a soup kitchen in Mountain View . He was living on the street, sleeping in a dumpster next to a liquor store located on Middlefield Road . He became our friend.
During that first of our acquaintance Art began to sleep on our couch in the living room. He spent a Christmas morning with our family and was deeply touched when our children gave him a present.
The next year around the same time of St. Patrick’s Day, Art showed up with a green beard. He was Irish at heart (at least in March).
We attempted to help Art in any way we could. He moved from our couch to a semi-permanent bed in our van. We would listen to his stories of his family (a wife and two children), his war years, his teaching experiences (he said he had a masters degree) and his political views (he had a lot of opinions about the homeless situation and the current political candidates). He rode his bike everywhere.
As the years went by Art began to call us from the Veteran’s hospital. The hospital staff would dismiss him after hospital admission due to accidents on his bike or other medical conditions and he’d need a ride “somewhere”. Eventually he had a pacemaker installed, had cataract surgery, and seemed to have a new life.
One day when I was visiting a San Jose shelter, I spied him pushing a wheel chair down the sidewalk to the entrance (I had thought he was in the hospital).He refused to stay anywhere against his will and the street was where he felt free.
When Art had his final visit to the hospital he called Pete to come visit. He tried to convince Pete to sign him out, but his health was too frail to be back on the bike touring the peninsula. He died in the early evening about the time we were praying at the dinner table – a place he had sat many times. The phone call came from the nurse on duty who said Art had wanted her to call Pete. Pete asked if they had called his daughter. They didn’t even know he had two grown children. When Pete called Art’s daughter late that July night , she seemed more upset about the time of the call than she was about the death of her father.
Art was unique. Each of God’s poor that Pete meets on the street have their own unique journey. Because of your generous donations, Pete is able to spend time with people who have no one in their lives who care about them. Because of you, Pete can sit with a mother who is grieving that her daughter is in jail for the third strike. He can spend the afternoon with a person who needs to go the hospital. He can provide bus passes and quarters for laundry so kids can go to school in clean clothes. He can help people who have shelter, but have need of other essentials: food, clothing, medicine and comfort. Thank you for helping Truck of Love to help the people who are unable to fit into society, who are not wanted nor missed by anyone, who are God’s poor.
God reward you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
Christmas is coming – be sure to call Pete (408-295-7320), if you want to help with a family. Our donations are increasing thanks to you, but the need is growing. More and more people need some help making ends meet each month.
Pete has recorded a CD! He went into a local recording studio and sang and played. He has included some Truck of Love favorite: “If You Want To Live Life Free”, and “Lady Poverty” (to name only a few). You can receive your copy of this CD for a donation of $15.00 to truck of Love (this includes postage). Send us your mailing address and we’ll get you a copy ASAP.
Our children said:” It’s like listening to Dad playing in the living room.”
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~March 23rd, 2003
LOVE- “Always watching – Always caring – Reaching out to a hurting world – Seeks Justice and prays for strength “
Dear Friends of Truck of Love,
We went to a wedding yesterday. Two of our young friends got married at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Alviso. It was a joyous occasion. Family and friends were gathered as the pastor presided. The bride was beautiful in her long white dress and the groom was so handsome in his dark suit. It was a great day!
It was a celebration of life. It was a celebration of faith, hope and love. It was a celebration that happened because of the grace of God.
We met the groom in Tijuana , Mexico when he was about three years old. He was the child of two hardworking parents who lived in Colonia Tenochtitlan. At the time, he was one of seven children. His mother used to make tamales for our Truck of Love groups.
The older children in the family came and spent time with the participants of our summer and Christmas trips. His dad made ceramic objects and sold them at the border.
Our young friend had an opportunity to move to Alviso when he was about 11 years old. At that time he met a very sweet young girl. They were friends for a long time and then during their high school years they became boyfriend and girlfriend. He dropped out of school for a while and she went on to receive a scholarship to a local Catholic University . He went back to school and now works and goes to school at Mission College .
They got married yesterday and all who were present felt the faith, hope and love that come only from our God.
This past Christmas you were instruments of God’s love to serve several hundred people who were adopted for the Holidays. You answered the call and adopted families, bought presents. Wrapped and sorted gifts and delivered lots of Holiday cheer. we are grateful to you and so are the people you served. We had many cards and phone calls from people who were very thankful for your generosity.
This year is already a very difficult time for the poor. With the economy failing, budget cuts and a country at war; the poor are feeling the crunch. We are still serving several communities in Tijuana , financing camp on the Tohono O’Odham Indian Reservation in Arizona and helping hundreds of people locally.
Here in the Bay Area the calls are increasingly frantic. People are in need of medical help (many prescriptions are not paid for by the state), food (food stamps don’t make it through the month), clothing ( it is hard to get used underwear of larger sizes in used clothing stores), transportation ( there are not many agencies that have a budget for bus passes) and the personal touch (Pete goes to each family and interviews them in their home to see what their living conditions are and how Truck of Love can be of the most help). Our phone rings from 5:30am to midnight including weekends. Pete is out almost every evening and part of each weekend day meeting with people trying to give them some small measure of help or assurance.
Truck of Love continues to need your help. Right now there is money in the bank, but if our requests for help continue at the rate they are going we will be out of money in about three months.
Please help Truck of Love to continue being an instrument of God’s faith, hope and love in this difficult time.
Please feel free to call me with any questions. I’m usually out working with our brothers and sisters in need… Please leave a message at: 408-295-7320
Peace be with you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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LOVE- “Always watching – Always caring – Reaching out to a hurting world – Seeks Justice and prays for strength.”
Dear Friends,
The image of the Holy Family , Jesus, Mary and Joseph is uppermost in our minds this day. What a wonderful model for our lives. To us they represent love and care for each other and the world around them. They were uncomplicated people who did what God asked – so simple and yet so difficult. Their example gives us the strength to embrace each day and to ask God,” What is it you want of me, this day?”
What does God want of you, this day?
This day we thank God for you and your prayers and your generous donations. It has been a full summer. We were able to be in Arizona for the dedication of the shrine in Eric Wilson’s yard – our young Tohono O’Odham friend who died last spring. This summer camp was once again very successful. Each year more O’Odham become part of the leadership and this year they outnumbered the other counselors! We are grateful to you for your $10,000.00 in donations that kept this camp going one more year. We are thankful to Truck of Love south, Scott and Mandy Bell, who now take on this responsibility.
We thought that when we gave up the group trips to Mexico and to Arizona that we might have more summer time. This is not to be. In June we again collaborated with St. Francis High School to assist Campus Ministry with a one week immersion in downtown San Jose . This was the fourth year we have done this and it was wonderful! Thirteen St. Francis students spent their days working with the people at Loaves and Fishes soup Kitchen, the First Methodist Church , the First Christian Church, Catholic Charities John the XXIII Center for elderly, Agnews Developmental center and poor, disabled or elderly. Even more extraordinary than the agencies, were our students. They went from fear of people who live in very different circumstances to an openness, awareness and acceptance of the people they encountered. It was a great week.
The summer was a very difficult one for the poor in the bay Area. We received more calls for help; more requests for lodging, food, medical expenses, clothing transportation and furniture As people begin to be taken off the welfare rolls, they are panicking. As people loose their jobs, they don’t know where to turn. Now with the beginning of the school year, families need school supplies that cannot afford.
Our donations are stretched thin – what comes in is going out – and this week we are having to tell our clients that we cannot help them with food cards or motel nights or anything else that demands cash money. We know that will change, but our clients don’t understand since Truck of Love always helps when other agencies cannot.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming and families will begin to call soon to ask for holiday help. Last year our Holiday Adopt-a-Family Program cost Truck of Love $11,000.00 beyond the money so many of you spent when you adopted families and provided their Holiday cheer. Currently we are looking at how we can alter our program so we can continue to help the families who would otherwise have no extras at holiday time.
Our prayers are with all of you as we near the anniversary of September 11th 2001 (911)
Much has changed for all of us in this past year. The poor people of our country are still in great need. We know many of you are between jobs. We also know that when we help each other, we are enriched and strengthened. This is certainly the example we have in Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Blessings on each and every one of you,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
Since our last news letter we lost tow close friends: Carol Mori and Suzanne Enfield. Both were women who exemplified great love of family and are missed.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~June 11th, 2002
LOVE- “Always watching – Always caring – Reaching out to a hurting world – Seeks Justice and prays for strength"
Dear Friends,
People often ask:” How do you do so much?” My reply is, “Moment by moment.” If I look at the whole picture of life, it is overwhelming. I can accomplish a lot if I listen to the person who is with me, if I smile at the child playing in the park , if I give a bottle of water to a man on the street corner.
I run in circles if I worry about how I am going to get through the day with all the demands I have on my time. I attempt to encounter each person in my day as if they were the only person I want to be with. I attempt to address each request as it comes my way. My motto is:” Worry doesn’t accomplish anything.” Jesus said:” Fear not.” And I believe Him!
The sad part of life is that there are lots of people who do worry. They worry about where their next meal will come from. They worry how they will pay the rent now that they are out of work. They worry about their children who are sick and have no medical insurance. They worry about how to provide their children with clothes, shoes and essentials to live in this valley.
That’s where Truck of Love is able to ease some of the burden. Because of your generosity today I was able to take a mother shopping so her children would have shoes and underwear. You have helped several older women have the medicine that is not covered by their Medi Cal insurance. You have bought food for families that are at the end of the month with their meager budgets.
You also help to fund the TOTOL Camp ( Tohono O’Odham Truck of Love Camp), on the Tohono O’Odham Indian Reservation in Southern Arizona . This is the 17th year of the camp that serves about 160 children on the southern most part of the reservation – the poorest and most remote part of the land. Camp will begin July 1st, 2002 with leadership training the week before. Each year more and more of the Tohono O’Odham work the camp and take leadership roles.
This year the camp will be even more important because March 1st, 2002 one of our long timed O’Odham friends, Eric Wilson, died. Erick was only 3 years old. He had been a part of camp since the beginning – first as a camper, then as a valuable leader. The children loved Eric- he was a role model for many of them.
Your donations have helped to fund camp for this year –so far it has cost about $10,000.00. There are vans to e rented, buses to be driven to pick up the children and bring them to camp, food to be purchased and cooked, leadership training for the staff, t-shirts for the camp and all the other things that go into making camp happen in such a remote location.
All year the children ask when camp is going to start. There are some children who come back to the reservation just for camp because their parents were once campers. It is a wonderful tradition for love and caring that helps these children forget for a couple of weeks all the problems and worries that make them old before their time.
We thank you in advance for being Christ to the people helped by Truck of Love – Jesus who said:” Fear Not.”
May God reward your generosity,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
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June 11, 2002
Dear Friends,
People often ask: "How do you do so much?" My reply is, "Moment by moment." If I look at the whole picture of life, it is overwhelming. I can accomplish a lot if I listen to the person who is with me, if I smile at the child playing in the park, if I give a bottle of water to a man on the street corner.
I run in circles if I worry about how I am going to get through the day with all the demands I have on my time. I attempt to encounter each person in my day as if they were the only person I want to be with. I attempt to address each request as it comes my way. My motto is: "Worry doesn't accomplishanything." Jesus said: "Fear not." And I believe Him!
The sad part of life is that there are lots of people who do worry. They worry about where their next meal will come from. They worry about how they will pay the rent now that they are out of work. They worry about their children who are sick and have no medical insurance. They worry about how to provide their children with the clothes, shoes and essentials to live in this valley.
That's where Truck of Love is able to ease some of the burden. Because of your generosity today Pete was able to take a mother shopping so her children could have shoes and underwear. You have helped several older women have the medicine that is not covered by their Medi Cal insurance. You have bought food for families that are at the end of the month with their meager budgets.
You also help to fund the TOTOL Camp (Tohono O‚Odham Truck of Love Camp) on the Tohono O'Odham Indian Reservation in Southern Arizona. This is the 17th year of the camp that serves about 160 children on the southern most part of the reservation ˆ the poorest and most remote part of the land. Camp will begin July 1 with leadership training the week before. Each year more and more of the Tohono O'Odham work the camp and take leadership roles.
This year the camp will be even more important because March 1, 2002 one of our long time O‚Odham friends, Eric Wilson, died. Eric was only 23 years old. He had been a part of camp since the beginning first as a camper, then as a valuable leader. The children loved Eric he was a role model for many of them.
Your donations have helped to fund camp for this year so far it has cost about $10,000. There are vans to be rented, buses to be driven to pick up children and bring them to camp, food to be purchased and cooked, leadership training for the staff, t-shirts for the camp, and all the other things that go into making camp happen in such a remote location.
All year the children ask when camp is going to start. There are some children who come back to the reservation just for camp because their parents were once campers. It is a wonderful tradition of love and caring that helps these children forget for a couple of weeks all the problems and worries that make them old before their time.
We thank you in advance for being Christ to the people helped by Truck of Love. It was Jesus who said: "Fear not!"
God Bless You,
We are grateful for your prayers, checks and support that you show in so many ways. Feel free to call Pete at (408) 295-7320 if you want to know where to take your donations of clothing and furniture.
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January 2002
LOVE- “Always watching – Always caring – Reaching out to a hurting world – Seeks Justice and prays for strength “
Dear Friends,
Your generosity with time, prayers, money, food and gifts helped Truck of Love to serve 121 families at Thanksgiving and 254 families at Christmas On November 17th we had 20 volunteers who sorted food and delivered to 35 families. In December we had about 65 volunteers who helped wrap gifts, sort food and deliver to almost 120 families. Many of you called and adopted families who you contacted and met and delivered personally your gifts of love. Thank You!
This newsletter must be a huge thank you to everyone who was involved this past holiday season. It was just a few short years ago that we started by helping one family. As you read the following list look at the breadth and scope of people involved in this endeavor. It is YOU who keep saying yes to God and His poor. We feel the need to list as many of the groups that helped as we can. If we miss some, we are very sorry – please know we are so very grateful for all the help. (If you want to call us and gently remind us that we left you out, we will be very happy to list you in the next newsletter.)
Thank you ( in completely random order.): St. Victors Church newcomers in San Jose; St. Lawrence Academy and Mary Carroll; California Avenue Community and Denise; Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Alviso and Isaac; Adella for making so many phone calls and maps; St. Francis High School, the Service Club, Mrs. Carroll’s classes, Mr. Pilawski’s class and Mr. Bigg’s classes; Momma Branch and Nate in east Palo Alto;
St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Los Gatos; Hispanic Social Services and Marie; Housing Consortium and Charlie; local Head Start coordinators who recommended families in need; 3 Com and Patrick; Canyon Heights Academy and Rose; Faye Svedman and her annual Christmas gift party; Caldwell Banker and Judy; Albertson’s for food discounts; Paul Nyberg and the Town Crier Holiday Fund; St. Christopher’s students and Nancy for the food drive; St. William Church for their annual Angel Tree drive and Cathy and Olivia; St. Lucy’s Parish Angel Tree; St. Leo’s Parish Christmas tree program and Lisa; Los Altos United Methodist Church and their annual Angel Tree; Holy Spirit Parish and Cassy for the parish Angel Tree program; St. Nicholas Parish and Fr. Gary for the use of the school facilities on our sorting and delivery day; St. Katherine’s in Gilroy and La Lo; Castro School in Mountain View and Adella; Adventures in Learning Academy and Mrs. Albacht; and Patricia and Faline for the prayer hot line; Bounsey and La Viresak and the Laotian families; Kathie for our mailing list and Shoreline Printing and Mike and Victoria.
In listing all these groups and individuals I am overwhelmed by the amazing volume of people who have been touched this Holiday Season. We have not listed the over 150 individuals who actually adopted and took care of one or more families.
This is what the Holidays are about. This is what the Holiday Season has to teach us about life. We are created by our God in His likeness to love. Each of us has a path in life that affects others. Some of us are blessed with extra material recourses that are meant to be shared.
Pete and I are fortunate to have been called to this work with the poor. We meet so many generous loving people who really understand that we are the Body of Christ. If one of us hurts, we all are affected. When one of us helps another, we affect more than that person, we help to make the world a much better place to live. We tank you for sharing your material recourses and your time and being the hands of Christ.
Please don’t forget that the people we serve during the Holidays are with all year round. Times are very hard right now and the poor are always the people who suffer the most. Your donations of money help us top help so many others. If you have other items to donate, call Pete and he can give you suggestions of places that will take your clothing and furniture.
One of our faithful donors reminded us that some of you might like to gift Truck Of Love with stocks- it is very easy to do so- we have a Charles Schwab account to accept your gifts quite easily. Just give Pete a call at 408-295-7320 and help is on the way.
God bless and keep you in this New Year,
Pete and Sue Fullerton
Some of the people served by Truck of Love this Christmas expressed their thanks – we want to pass on a few of these calls and letters.
Phone Call:” Hello Pete- I just wanted to thank you for all you have done for me and my family .I was really so down and out and appreciate it.” KD
Letters:” I just wanted to say thank you for all the involved for everything that was done. Thank you so much.” Mrs. A
“Thank you Mr. Pete for helping to make our Xmas a nice one and , to , the family that helped us.” MP
“Thanks again for the gift cards. There wouldn’t have been a Christmas without them./ I used the gift checks for a Xmas tree. My grandson is 3 years old. You should have seen his eyes. It was precious.” CB
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~November, 2001
Dear Friends,
Thank you. In our last newsletter we told you our bank account balance was decreasing too rapidly and you have responded with overwhelming generosity. We are able to write checks, buy food and continue to help some of the very needy people of our society. Thank you.
We often read the passage from the gospel of Luke that tells the story of Jesus feeding five thousand hungry people who were following Him. This is referred to as the "miracle of the loaves and the fishes". As we reflect on this story, it strikes us that there were two miracles. One was in Jesus' act of multiplying the food to feed the people. The other miracle was the willingness of one hungry person to give away what little food they had so that others could eat.
When we admit to being Christians, followers of Jesus, we are not asked to do extraordinary deeds. We are asked to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the sick or the imprisoned.
We are again asking you to follow Christ's example. This year we have 160 families who have asked for help at Thanksgiving and more for Christmas.
There is a family of ten who live in a local community: Grandmother and grandfather (disabled), mother and father (fieldworker) and 6 children. They live in the back yard of a home in a shed that has no running water and no bathroom. They use a bucket for water and have an outhouse in the yard. They have electricity so they do have a hot plate for cooking. They have asked for food and clothing - no toys - they just need the necessities for the children.
There is a family of 14 made up of a mother (disabled) with four children. Two of the daughters are each single parent to four children. The other son and daughter are seniors in high school. These two have jobs. They bring much needed income to the family. They live in a three- bedroom apartment where they have subsidized rental assistance.
There is a family of three. This is a mother with two children ages 3 and 7 years old. The mother uses bus transportation to take her seven-year old child to school. While that child is in school she then travels with the three -year old 20 miles by bus to her job in a day care center. They eat in local soup kitchens and the mother works for food on Saturdays.
These families are typical of the hundreds of families who need your help this Holiday season. Please consider getting involved in the Truck of Love Adopt-a-Family program this year.
God bless you,
Truck of Love
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July, 2001
It is a long time between newsletters. The days come and go and life takes over.
Looking back: Thanksgiving and Christmas 2000 were times of great commotion around here. When all was finished there were 147 local families fed for the Thanksgiving holiday; that translated to over 600 meals! Christmas came and 232 families were the recipients of all sorts of Holiday cheer. More than 900 meals and 4500 gifts made their way to Bay area families. You helped in so many ways with food, gifts and money. Some of you came and helped us load bags of food and wrap presents. Then you delivered these to needy families. Many of you adopted families, contacted them and helped make their Holidays very bright.
This year we received many calls and cards from thankful families. You have been a part of a very special gift of love to people who could easily lose hope. Your prayers and donations have encouraged and supported families who have very difficult lives. Thank you.
In February Pete and I had the joy of giving a Married Couples Retreat at the Jesuit Retreat House in Los Altos. Along with Fr. Jim Hanley, we accompanied 12 married couples through a weekend of prayer, music and reflection. It was great. We have agreed to do this again next year February 8-10, 2002. Call us or contact the Jesuit Retreat House in Los Altos for further details.
In May our daughter Julie and I gave the Mother-Daughter Retreat - also at the Jesuit Retreat House in Los Altos. We had 33 mothers and daughters and granddaughters in attendance. Pete helped us with music and we had a weekend we will all cherish for many years.
On the local front, Pete and I just finished our third annual downtown San Jose Immersion Trip in collaboration with St. Francis High School (Ken Biggs and Sister Jodi Min as staff). For one week in late June, we had 14 St. Francis High School Senior students live and work at a variety of agencies in downtown San Jose. What a huge success this program has been! We lived at St. Patrick's Convent on 9th and Santa Clara and worked with several downtown groups who help the poor, the elderly or people with very low incomes. At Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen we not only helped prepare and serve dinner, but we got into line with the homeless people and sat among them at dinner and learned at lot about people who are not so different from us. At Washington School we helped tutor some of the 600 children who attend summer school. We loaded bags and boxes of food for the 200 + people who get in line every Wednesday at John XXIII Center for Asian elderly. One evening we went to Heritage Home (a home for pregnant women who need a safe place to live). Here we brought dinner and spent time with the women whose lives are in chaos, but who have chosen life for their unborn children. Three times during the week we went to the First Christian Church and played with the almost 30 children who sleep on their floor each night. The people of this Church have chosen to open their door to families who have no place to go. By the third night I had mothers handing me their babies - just happy to have a grandmother nearby.
July found us in Pisinemo when we "visited" the summer day camp on the Tohono O'odham reservation. We managed to arrive at the end of the camp day on July 3rd and spent most of the camp day on July 4th. Now called TOTOL Camp (Tohono O'odham Truck of Love), the camp is being staffed this year by 9 people from off the reservation and over 20 O'odham. As in years past there were children ages 5 - 18 having lots of fun with games and sports and art projects. This year the O'odham are completely responsible for crafts and sports and games.
Larry Wilson, Eric Wilson, Sam Fayaunt, Scott and Mandy Bell and Cathy Baker are making camp happen for about 100 children. This year O'odham came from other districts on the reservation to participate in camp activities and to learn about how to make this kind of event happen in their districts. This 15-year journey of camp has made a remarkable impact on the people of the reservation. Your donations are funding the camp - we thank you for the more than $9,000.00 we have sent to Truck of Love South to make this year's camp a reality. Most of that money pays for food and transportation. Larry Wilson cooks two meals each day for the more than 130 children and staff. Busses and vans go out every morning and evening to transport the children and adults to camp from villages as far away as 50 miles. This year we saw lots of first generation campers at camp as leaders and staff people. We took lots of photos and hope to display them on our web site (www.truckoflove.org) - check it out in about a month!
Pete is meeting more and more people in San Jose who need help. Some people call home a cardboard box next to an abandoned railway track near downtown. Others have shelter, but need extra help with food or transportation. Often he is able to refer people to one of the many local agencies that have social workers on staff to deal with long term solutions.
Once each month Pete drives to Tijuana, Mexico where he meets with Maria Felix and her community in Colonia Tenochtitlan. We are able to help the people with food, clothing, medical supplies and money for education. More than $800.00 each month goes to this hard working community. These are people who often have to decide on food or medicine as there is not money for both. Your donations help them to have these basic necessities.
Your donations enable us to help so many people who need a little relief from their very difficult daily lives. Your donations tell people that there is someone who cares. After Pete has been able to help in some way people often say "God bless you!" God has blessed each of us. We are blessed with some gift that we are meant to share. Thank you for sharing some of your gifts with the people served by Truck of Love.
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October, 2000
What good is it, if a person claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him? Suppose a person is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about the person‚s physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it not accompanied by action, is dead. James 1:14-17
I wish you could meet Lynne. She is a middle-aged woman who we have known for about 15 years. Our daughter will never forget one Sunday when Lynne came to our house and wanted to clean up her car so she could live in it more comfortably. At that time, Julie was a teenager and she innocently volunteered to help Lynne. About 15 minutes into this project Julie called me outside to see what she had uncovered ˆ maggots in the upholstery. All we could do was scrub and vacuum and hope we had cleansed the car of the pests. Lynne was getting ready to have her children for a visit in her home ˆ her car.
A few years later, Lynne was on our doorstep again, This time it was Christmas and she wanted some help with gifts for her son and daughter. They would be spending Christmas day in her car with her. She had a puzzle of a Christmas tree and really wanted a flat board so they could work on this puzzle together in the car.
Today, Lynne's children are older and have been living for some time with their grandmother and aunt. But recently these two women were in an auto accident and can no longer care for the boy and girl. They now live with Lynne in her car.
Each day your donations enable Truck of Love to help people like Lynne. These are the people who fall through the cracks of our society. Some people have homes, some have cars and some need bus passes or food. All of them need a loving person to listen to them. Thank you for your help.
We are entering the holiday season. As I sit here at the computer, it is early October. Already in the first 6 days of October, Pete has sixty-five families who have asked for help at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. He is receiving more than 30 phone calls each day from people in need of some kind of help.
ADOPT-A-FAMILY PROGRAM
WE NEED YOUR HELP! - THANKSGIVING ADOPT-A-FAMILY
Last year we helped hundreds of families with food for Thanksgiving. How can you help?
- Call Pete at (408)295-7320 or e-mail him at peteandsue@netgate.net
- Adopt-a-family for Thanksgiving
- Buy food and deliver it to a family (you can choose the size of the
- family)
- Donate food and/or money to buy food and we will deliver it
- Help on Saturday, November 18, to sort and deliver food to families in need (we will meet at St. Nicholas School in Los Altos ˆ call Pete for details)
CHRISTMAS ADOPT-A-FAMILY
Last year we helped 198 families at Christmas. How can you help?
- Call Pete at (408)295-7320 or e-mail him at peteandsue@netgate.net
- Adopt-a-family for Christmas
- Buy food and gifts and deliver them to the family
- You can choose the size of the family
- We recommend no more than $10/person for food
- We recommend no more than $25/person for gifts
- Donate food or gifts or money and we will deliver to the family
- Help on Saturday, December 23 to sort and deliver food and gifts to families (we will meet at St. Nicholas School in Los Altos call Pete for details)
UPDATE ON ROBERTO
Many of you have read about Roberto on our web site www.truckoflove.org. Please check out the web site for all the information. Roberto has finished his treatment in the United States. He has returned home with some new equipment and new medicines. Kate and Greg Kremer continue to be in touch with the family and, as needed, are sending medicines to them. We are about to pay the last of the bills your donations covered weeks of care in some very specialized physical therapy programs. Roberto and his family are deeply grateful to each of you who cared so much to sacrifice your hard-earned dollars to help them. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. This is a lifelong journey for this family.
TIDBITS FROM TRUCK OF LOVE SOUTH
Scott, Mandy and Zoe Bell have sent us their newsletter about last June's summer camp on the Tohono O‚Odham Indian Reservation. Thanks to your continuing donations, we were able to help fund the summer camp (even though this was the first year Pete and I were not present). Thanks to your generosity Scott and Mandy and their able staff had an incredible three weeks with the O‚Odham leaders and children. The camp tradition has become a reality. This is an annual event that children and adults of the tribe anticipate with great excitement.
I just had an e-mail from one of our original campers from 1985. She is now mother of two children and lives in Tucson where she has a job. She wanted me to know that her children go to visit their grandmother in Pisinemo each summer just so they can attend the camp. They look forward to it all year. Thank you to each of you who helps make this possible.
THANK YOU Shoreline Printing in Mountain View - Kathie Behnke for our labels and mailing list - Scott at Sherman‚s Auto in Mountain View for keeping our vehicles in good running order - Tom Smith for keeping our computers up and running - Rob Perrier our webmaster (Please e-mail him and let him know what you think about our web site.) Mark Smith for web site help. Scott and Mandy Bell. Nancy Novak and John Akers for long service on our board of Directors (they have moved out of the area). Nel Anton, Mary Alice Callahan, Glen Haubl and Phil McCrillis, our remaining Board members.
PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS
Larry Bell who died just as our last newsletter went to press. Larry was a long-time supporter of our work and was the father of Scott Bell who has now formed Truck of Love South. Cind Tresser, who died very suddenly last month. Cind was a participant on two Truck of Love trips one to Tijuana and one to the camp in Arizona.
We are grateful to each of these families for designating Truck of Love for donations in memory of Larry and Cind. We will continue to remember Larry and Cind and their families in our prayers and ask you to also remember them in prayer.
Truck of Love
P.O. Box 269
Los Altos, CA 94023
www.truckoflove.org
peteandsue@netgate.netDONATIONS
Your checks can be mailed to Truck of Love, P.O. Box 269, Los Altos, CA 94023.
Call Pete for the Thanksgiving and Christmas programs at (408)295-7320 or
e-mail him at peteandsue@netgate,net.
For furniture and clothing donations we recommend you call:
New Start Furniture Fund (650) 322-6716
Mama Branch (650) 325-2848
Bounsey Virasak (650) 327-9871. We have worked with each of these groups and refer many of our people in need to them for these items.
CALENDAR
Pete is still making monthly trips to Tijuana with money, food and clothing. (He picks up the clothing from Mama Branch in East Palo Alto.)
November 18 We need help sorting and delivering food for Thanksgiving.
December 23 We need help sorting and delivering food and presents for Christmas.
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April, 2000
Life is full of changes and surprises. In scripture, heralds of news usually begin with a statement like: "Fear not." or "Don't be afraid." It seems our whole adult lives we have been challenged to believe that. Another way to put it for us is to:"Let go and let God." Sometimes easier said than done!
These past 20 months since Pete's accident have been a time of tremendous change for Truck of Love. Before July 1998, Pete was the primary physical mover of all sorts of things - stoves, refrigerators, couches, clothes, etc. All that has now come to a screeching halt! Pete is unable to do the physical work. Added to that we lost our warehouse in December and so Truck of Love is completely out of the business of collecting stuff.
However, we have other outlets for your gifts of love:
FURNITURE: New Start Furniture Fund in East Palo Alto (650)322-9716. We have been working with Phil Van Poestch for several months and his group is willing to pick up furniture in good condition and will distribute it to people in need. We are referring many of the people we help to this organization.
CLOTHING: Mama Branch in East Palo Alto (650)325-2848 or George Viresak in Redwood City(650)367-9871. We have been working with Mama Branch and George Viresak for many years. They are willing to pick up your donations and they will be given to people in need.
We wondered how we could let go of the moving of material goods from one place to another and have found each of these people to be most helpful. Mama Branch has even opened her warehouse so Pete can have volunteers fill his van before he makes his monthly trip to Mexico.
We let go of our warehouse and God found an even better way. So what is happening with Truck of Love these days? What else have we had to let go of? What are we still doing? Here are some updates:
TIJUANA
Pete is still making monthly trips to Tijuana. On his way to Tijuana he drops off the load of clothing at Scott and Mandy Bell's home in San Ysidro. People from Tijuana come across the border and pick up clothing from Scott and Mandy. Pete then goes into Tijuana where we are still working with the people in Colonia Tenochtitlan, Colonia Obrera and now Colonia La Presa. Each month it costs Truck of Love approximately $1800.00 to pay for beans and rice, help some families with school, some with medical care, some house building and always the emergencies like funeral costs. Truck of Love works through several community leaders who are helping their neighbors in need.
ARIZONA - TOHONO O O'DHAM RESERVATION
Pete is no longer going with trucks to Arizona. However, Scott and Mandy Bell with their own organization,Truck of Love South, are helping the people in Arizona. Scott, on an almost monthly basis, has been visiting villages with loads of clothing and other goods.
ARIZONA - SUMMER CAMP - COUNSELORS NEEDED
This summer the annual Truck of Love summer camp will be conducted by Truck of Love South and the Tohono O O'Odham. Pete and Sue said a sad farewell to their desert friends at the end of camp last year. But with a strong commitment from the O'Odham and from Scott and Mandy Bell, Cathy Baker, Tim Cross and Theresa Beltramo the camp will continue this year. They are looking for Veteran Camp Counselors this year. So if you have ever been to camp and want to be part of this formation year - please call Scott and Mandy Bell at (619)476-9851. Or e-mail them at sbell_mt@yahoo.com They NEED YOU!!!
This year Leadership Training in Arizona will begin June 28. Camp will be July 3-14. They are looking for experienced help.
LOCAL
Pete is very able to serve people in need. Each day he is out visiting with people from San Jose to East Palo Alto. Now that he is not managing the warehouse, he is finding that he can spend more time with people.
One day he drove a man to the DMV to take his driving test so the man could get his license and a job. He gives people Albertsons scrip and often takes them to buy the food so they don't have to carry the groceries on the bus. On Valentine's Day Pete and Nel, one of the members of our Board of Directors, took Valentines to some of the people served by Truck of Love.
Each month there are people in need of bus passes, scrip for food, transportation to the doctor or sometimes just a listening ear. Recently he has been dealing with three families who have been burned out of their apartments.
Because of your generosity Truck of Love is still able to fill in where other organizations cannot. Several nights a month there are people in need of emergency shelter in local motels. Often there is someone out in the rain in need of a hot cup of coffee.
Truck of Love continues to be a place where people find comfort and encouragement. It seems as though when people are poor more bad things happen to them. They get behind on their rent or bills and don't know how to negotiate to pay a little each month. Pete is now able to spend time helping some of those who call to begin to learn how to solve some of their problems instead of running from them.
We just had a call from a woman whose brother is the only one in her family with a job. She had to have him arrested for assaulting her 11 year old son. Now they have no income. Your donations help families like this.
ROBERTO FUND - HELP A BOY TO WALK
Some of you know our friends Kate and Greg Kremer. They spent some time about a year ago in Nicaragua. While there, they met a family whose young son could not walk. Since coming home, Kate and Greg have thought a lot about this boy. They have been haunted by the lack of resources for this boy in his home country. They really believe that with some medical help, Roberto can have an improvement in his physical condition. After consulting some U.S. doctors they have made the decision to bring Roberto and his mother to the U.S. It is important for Roberto's mother to come with him because she will learn the physical therapy treatment and be able to help Roberto when they return home. She will also take the knowledge back to her village where she has already formed a group for families with disabled children. Many families will be helped by Roberto's trip to the U.S.
Kate and Greg cannot pay for this treatment alone. They have asked their friends to donate money to the cause. Truck of Love has agreed to help Roberto. If you or anyone you know would like to help Roberto to walk, please send your checks to Truck of Love, P.O. Box 269, Los Altos, CA 94023. DESIGNATE YOUR DONATIONS TO THE "ROBERTO FUND".
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS & PROJECTS
We recently traveled to San Luis Obispo to speak with the service club at the University of California, SLO. It was our pleasure to join this group and speak with them about the possibilities that open up in loving service. We are soon to be guests at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in San Jose and the United Methodist Church in Los Altos to talk about the work of Truck of Love. In April we will be the guests of several groups outside of Atlanta, Georgia to spread the message of Truck of Love and how anyone can do this work. In June we will once again be involved with St. Francis High School in an inner city immersion experience for students in downtown San Jose.
Life has not stopped for Truck of Love. Life has changed and it is better than ever. We have once again let go of the familiar and are excited for the future. All God's blessings are there when we listen and make ourselves available!
THANK YOU
We thank so many of you for your donations in memory of Larry Bell. Thank you to Kathie Behnke for taking on the maintenance of our mailing list. Thank you to Shoreline printing. Thank you to Rob Perrier and the Smith family for helping with our website. Thank you all for your prayers.
WEBSITE
Be sure to look us up periodically at www.truckoflove.org Check "Pete's Corner" and "Sue's Corner" for monthly (almost) reflections on our work with the poor.
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February, 1999
MISSION SAN JOSE
SUMMER DAY CAMP '99What a great summer camp we had &emdash; our 15th in the Arizona desert on the Tohono O'Odham Reservation! Our Truck of Love staff came from all over the United States: California, Colorado, Illinois and Ohio. We converged on the village of Pisinemo on the afternoon of July 6. By Wednesday morning we were into our leadership training on the ROPES course at San Simon School. We were led by Samuel Fayaunt and many young people from the tribe. We went there for the children. We gave and gave of our creativeness and our energy. We gave till it seemed there was no more. And then we looked at the sunset, prayed, sang and miraculously we were ready for more.
This year was particularly memorable, since Pete and I realized that it must be our last year at camp. At our end-of-camp Thank You Dinner we announced our retirement from camp. We will always treasure the visits and the stories and the gifts we received from so many people.
I was moved by the story of one young man who has been a "camper" since he was 6 years old &emdash; he is now a father.
One evening he visited with his small child. He told me how much he missed coming to camp this year, because he had to work. He said that on camp days when he would walk through the gate into the camp area, it was as if something inside him changed. He said it was different when camp was happening in the village. He talked about never having a father &emdash; how he was trying to be a good father to his children. Then, with tears in his eyes he told me that Pete had been his father.
For the past fifteen years you have made it possible for Truck of Love to sponsor the Mission San Jose Summer Day Camp at Pisinemo. You have made it possible for many wonderful relationships among the O'Odham and the counselors we bring. We have been assured by a group of O'Odham and "Truck of Lovers" that the camp will continue. We pledged the support of Truck of Love in whatever way we can help. (We know they will need financial help as the camp costs about $7000.00 to operate.) In the Spring we will once again remind all of you of our commitment to the O'Odham children in the Arizona desert.
BITS AND PIECES
Since Pete's accident and the loss of his right foot, life has changed a lot. Pete can no longer move the heavy items and so we refer all furniture donations to New Start Furniture Fund in Palo Alto. Pete has met with Philip Van Poetsch, the founder of the New Start Furniture Fund, who is happy to have your donations of used furniture. He will also serve the clients we refer to him from Truck of Love who are in need of furniture for their homes. Be sure to call New Start Furniture Fund at (650)322-9716 to have their drivers pick up your donations of furniture. You can also find them at: furnituregivers@aol.com
Mother Branch in East Palo Alto has worked with Pete and Truck of Love for many years. We help Mother Branch to serve her community with food and clothing. She helps us by giving us her valuable insights and keeping us in her constant prayers. Mother Branch wishes to say thank you to all who are helping her ministry to the poor in her town through Truck Of Love funds, Thanksgiving and Christmas program as well as personal visitations to families in need.
Olivia Casillas and her six children live in Colonia Tenochtitlan, Tijuana, Mexico. Her family is living in a one room shack that is about ten by twelve feet. She needs more space before the rains come. Would you be willing to help her? We would like to help her to build another room approximately twelve by eighteen feet, with a partition, which will cost $2,100.00.
The people of Colonia La Presa &emdash; which is outside of Tijuana, toward Tecolote - are building a church with the help of Truck of Love donations. On our recent visit to Tijuana, Jaime Arias and his wife "heard" we were in town and raced over to see us at Maria Felix's home where we were eating posole( a very wonderful soup). Jaime had not seen us in several months and was so excited to take us to Colonia La Presa to see the church and classrooms and kitchen that you are helping the people to build. We were really impressed. Jaime says: " Thank you and God bless you all."
About twenty years ago, we received a call from a friend asking if we could help a Laotian refugee family that had been adopted by his church. That was when we first met Bounsey Viresak and his family. Since that time, Bounsey has been able to buy a home in Redwood City as he continues to help other Laotian refugees who come to this country. Usually the families come with only the clothes on their back and are in need of everything. Bounsey wishes to thank all of you who have helped his people with money, food, household items, clothing and Christmas gifts.
Pete visits once each month with Scott and Mandy Bell who live in Chula Vista, California and are beginning their own non-profit organization, "Truck of Love South". Pete is currently supplying them with clothing for Mexico and Arizona trips. Scott has taken over Pete's deliveries of clothing and furniture to the Tohono O'Odham reservation where each month he now visits a village to deliver your donations. If you live near San Diego and want to donate items to "Truck of Love South" please call Scott and Mandy at (619) 476-9851.
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November, 1998
Dear Friends of Truck of Love,
Thank you for your tremendous response to our last letter. Your prayers have kept our spirits high, made healing progress and inspired many people to volunteer to do Pete's work. Your money donations have enabled us to continue to support the communities in Arizona, Mexico and the local area. Your time making phone calls, pickups and deliveries is a blessing to everyone served by Truck of Love.
Life is great! Life is also completely changed for us since Pete's fall from the mountain on July 18. Pete, as you know, is a person who likes to be out with people, helping wherever he can. He keeps talking about just that, but know he also has a new gift in each of you who decided to offer your time and energy to "do" for him. You cannot imagine how it feels for us to know you are there to do the work of Truck of Love.
Pete is continuing to progress. His right foot was amputated on September 8 and he received his temporary prosthetic foot on October 26. It is a slow process. He is driving again, but is unable to lift anything but himself with his crutches. So we still need your help.
The Holidays are coming! Here is what is happening!