Trucker Buddy News

Trucker Buddy news

Friend, teacher, tour guide and benefactor

In addition to being “an excellent Trucker Buddy in regard to correspondence” as teacher Melissa Kost-ka wrote in her nomination, Paul Moerer and his family reach out to the families of the students in his class. From helping a needy family at Christmas to providing dog food for needy families, to providing an instrument for a student who wanted to join the orchestra, to providing needed winter clothing for the entire school, Moerer’s generosity spread goodwill throughout a small community in Wisconsin.
     Yet Moerer is not interested in accolades, so this announcement as his selection as the October Trucker Buddy Driver of the Month will focus on his positive impact on the education of Kostka’s fourth-grade students.
     “The letters and postcards he sends to the students allow them to experience places they otherwise would not have access to,” says Kostka, a teacher at Kosciuszko Elementary School in Cudahy, WI. “From Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Illinois to Mexico and Nassau, Bahamas, the students have enjoyed mapping his travels on our bulletin board and are always eager to see where our Trucker Buddy will go next.”
     Moerer corresponded from the Bahamas because even when on vacation he continues his volunteer work with Trucker Buddy.
     Besides the traveling aspect, Moerer connects with the students through the letters, Kostka says. “He shares stories about his own family and his own elementary school experiences, and often takes time to write a personal message to each student. He always responds to their questions.”
     The program got off to a good start when Moerer, along with his dogs Hither and Yon, visited the school so that the children could put a face with his name. “During his initial visit, he conversed with each student to make them feel special, all the while keeping an eye on his two dogs who also came to visit,” Kostka says. “The students were enthralled.”
     Moerer, a company driver with First Freight Express, lives in Elkhorn, WI.