Young Leaders First Annual Touch-A-Truck Fundraiser

On Sunday, July 12, Young Leaders United welcomed over 1,500 family members to their first Annual Touch-a-Truck fundraising event at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck. With more than 40 different types of trucks and vehicles, the event to remember raised over $10,000 for United Way of Dutchess County.

“My son is always talking about trucks and pushing their buttons and horns and lights, and we were tickled pink for him to be able to actually do it,” said Jill Aberle, mother of four year old Jack, of the event. “What a great idea! It was such a great way to focus on little kids.”

The racetrack of the Dutchess County Fairgrounds was jam packed with every kind of vehicle you could imagine. Kids frolicked for hours: making their way through a maze of moving boxes in the Arnoff moving truck; taking the wheel of Rhinebeck Ford’s Monster Truck; flashing the lights and siren of Fairview fire engine 2; taking a break with a movie and popcorn in the Black Tie Limo; and honking the horns of everything from dump trucks to 18 wheelers.

Hundreds of children passed through the Child Development Tent, where Parent/Infant Educators demonstrated simple activities that improve early childhood development. And more than a hundred families received Child IDs done by the New York Masonic Safety Identification Program, and completed car seat safety checks done by Alamo Ambulance.

Thank you to all the participants who brought their vehicles to the event:
A Black Tie Limo; AAG; Alamo Ambulance; American Red Cross; Arnoff Moving; Brandl’s Towing; Blacktop Maintenance; Central Hudson; Dutchess County Sheriff; Enviro Clean Services; Fairview Fire Department; Grandview Trolley; Hudson Health Plan; Hudson Valley Fresh; Kect Construction; Kirchhoff Construction; McCollisters; NY State Environment Conservation; Race Contracting; Rhinebeck Ford; Royal Carting; Ryan Gravel; The Amazing Fun Bus CT; Think Green Junk Removal; Village of Rhinebeck; Winslow Sons & Daughter; Deanco Services, Inc.; UPS (Kingston).