Real Journalism. Written by Real People.

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

A small child enjoys playing in a loading bucket at the Touch a Truck Fundraiser

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 9th annual Touch-A-Truck fundraiser.

The vehicles lined up on 18th Street, between 6th and 7th 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

Author

  • 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.

    View all posts

Discover more from Red Hook Star-Revue

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

READ OUR FULL PRINT EDITION

Our Sister Publication

Most Popular

On Key

Related Posts

Target Margin Theater to kick of ‘The Nonsense Lab’ in September

The 2026-2027 season at the Target Margin Theater begins on Sept. 17 with The Nonsense Lab, a three-week performance festival of new work that explores the theme of Nonsense, this according to an Aug. 18 press release. The Nonsense Lab includes three performances: Let Me Be an Animal, a dance by choreographer Caroline Fermin, “celebrating the slow, awkward, sweaty, and questioning parts

At ‘A Few of Each,’ Gowanus artists capture a neighborhood in flux

In some cultures, there’s a belief that death comes not when your heart stops beating, but when you’re forgotten. To remember something is to keep it alive, even if only in your heart. That idea is the key to A Few of Each, the collection of cityscape art currently on display at Gowanus Wine Studio on 3rd Avenue. The exhibition

Vincent Coppola on ‘Gowanus Crossing’

I first met Vincent Coppola in 1961 when we were high school freshmen at St. Augustine High School on Park Place in the Slope. After a career in journalism and some notable books, he’s now ensconced in Savannah, a city which, like Vinny, acknowledges the presence of ghosts. The interview has been edited to leave out the boring bits. Full

People of Red Hook: August 2026

This is New York City, but today nobody’s rushing. People are lollygagging down the streets while the 95-degree heat penetrates their bones. So it’s not too hard to get them to stop and talk to me about their relationships with their phones—the very phones that most of them are staring into before our conversations begin.   Christopher Loyd: I’m trying to

✕
Red Hook- Star Revue

FREE
VIEW