From Victims To Victims
A chain of Oklahoma trucking companies, with the help of a special driver team, got a special load to children affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. The load was from people who know something about terrorism.
The Friday after the attacks, Rowland Denman, chairman of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Fund, called Hahn Transportation Services of Oklahoma City. Denman was looking for a truck and driver to deliver more than 8,500 teddy bears with personal notes and cards written by local children, family members, and survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing to schools and rescue centers in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Hahn couldn't spare a truck, but they started calling other carriers looking for someone who could. They hit the jackpot when they called Sharon Finney, vice president of Burrows Trucking, who contacted Arnold McGee of A-Lady's Trucking, a small fleet in Muskogee, Okla.
A-Lady's turned to the husband-and-wife team of Steve and Theresa Sprague, who were at the moment deadheading home to Fayetteville, Ark. The couple jumped at the opportunity. "We had been in New York making a delivery when the terrorist attack happened," Theresa explained, "and we came home wanting to do something."
The Spragues insisted on donating their time to deliver the teddy bears to five sites in Jersey City, New Jersey; Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York; and Washington, D.C. They rolled into their first site, a distribution center in Jersey City, on Tuesday evening, one week after the attacks. "The supervisor there just cried when she saw us," Theresa said.
But the real emotional pull came when the Spragues drove into New York City. When their 53-foot trailer, plastered with posters of Project Hope, rolled into Manhattan, people began honking their horns and shouting "thank you" to the two truckers.
The only problem was, they were told to deliver their load to a warehouse.
"I wanted to be sure this load was going into the right hands and was going to be distributed to those who needed it," Theresa said. The determined trucker spoke to everyone she could until they were finally directed to Kid's Corner at the Family Assistance Center at Pier 94 - a place where families of the victims go for help.
Although the Spragues said they really aren't wild about all the publicity, they didn't have much choice when the Truckload Carriers Assn. sent out a special "Highway Angels" press release on their trip.
Esther Gonzalez, a volunteer at the Family Assistance Center, took the time to write a thank-you note, specifically mentioning the Spragues. "Late Wednesday, a big truck pulled into Pier 94," she wrote. "Out of it stepped two angels: Steve and Theresa Sprague. These two wonderful people drove 24 hours to deliver a message of solidarity, prayer, and hope from the people of Oklahoma City to the people of New York City and Washington, D.C." It was a demonstration of compassion, Gonzalez said, "that renewed my belief in humanity."
Return to main story
