Most of the time, the requests received by the Sundt Foundation are for grant money. But occasionally, a request comes in that makes us wonder, “Could this need be met in a different, perhaps more creative, way?” That’s what happened recently when Hope for Hunger, a nonprofit food bank in Glendale, Ariz., asked for $10,000 to purchase a used truck for transporting donated food.
“Hope for Hunger provides a great service, so we wanted to help them out,” said Andrew Apostolik, a Sundt area manager and Foundation member. “We decided to try to fill their need creatively, without writing a check, by looking through Sundt’s fleet of vehicles to see if there was something there they could use.”
Sundt’s Equipment Services Department came up with two trucks that were about to be taken out of rotation because they were no longer serviceable. Neither truck was quite what Hope for Hunger needed, so our employees took parts from each and created the perfect solution: a ¾-ton flatbed truck with a lift gate. Thanks to a little elbow grease and determination, it runs well and is in good overall condition.
Hope for Hunger received its “new” truck last week and is already putting it to good use. To Sundt, it was a nearly worthless assortment of parts. To the people in Glendale who rely on Hope for Hunger to feed their families, a little creativity turned out to be priceless.