PS 295’s Annual Touch-A-Truck Fundraiser is a wheel success

Families from PS 295 and the South Slope area had the chance to explore and sit behind the wheels of more than 15 special vehicles at the school’s 9^th annual Touch-A-Truck fundraiser.

The vehicles lined up on 18^th Street, between 6^th and 7^th Avenues, this year included an FDNY fire truck, NYPD smart car and van, PSVAC ambulance, DOS garbage truck, vintage MTA/NYCT bus, Formula E racecar, 16-wheel moving truck from Gentle Giant, tow truck from MacArthur Collision, cab and tractor from Chef’s Warehouse, DEP’s lugger truck, fuel truck from Sprague Energy, and more. Plus, YoGo, Gorilla Cheese, and Yankee Doodle Dandy’s food trucks and DEP’s NYC Water-on-the-Go station were on-site to keep families hydrated and fed during the warm, sunny afternoon on May 18.

PS 295 parents, volunteers and staff worked hard for months putting this big block party together, according to the fundraiser’s event chair Jill Bloch. With more than 3,000 guests attending each year, Touch-A-Truck’s the biggest school fundraiser, and the proceeds support academic, arts and enrichment programs at the Title I school.

“[It] provides a really unique experience for families to get up close to trucks in Brooklyn, but what most people don’t realize is that their support provides critical resources to our school,” Bloch explained to the RHSR. “One hundred percent of the dollars raised at this event is used for programming that enriches our student’s lives. In the past, this event has allowed our students to participate in dance and music programs that are not in the school’s budget – it is these programs that help to make PS 295 a special elementary school and would not be possible without our community sponsors and all of the families who come out to enjoy the event.”

Other kids’ activities that took place included bouncy houses, build-a-truck activities with South Slope Pediatrics, live band performances from School of Rock and Brooklyn Music Factory students, and a slime zone with The Tiny Scientist.

All photos by DeGregorio

George Fiala

George Fiala has worked in radio, newspapers and direct marketing his whole life, except for when he was a vendor at Shea Stadium, pizza and cheesesteak maker in Lancaster, PA, and an occasional comic book dealer. He studied English and drinking in college, international relations at the New School, and in his spare time plays drums and fixes pinball machines.