Gene Woolsey retired from his career as a truck driver five years ago. However, even in retirement, his time behind the wheel was far from over. Last year, he went on 13 cross-country trips as a Convoy of Hope volunteer.
“Once you retire, that’s just the beginning of the work,” he said in an interview with Transportation Topics.
Due to his hard work and selflessness, Gene recently won the Frontline Heroes Award at the American Trucking Association’s Management Conference & Exhibition.
“The Transport Topics Trucking’s Frontline Heroes Award is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to honor those who brought their communities together and committed acts of great selflessness in moments of great need. Awardees are humanitarians and innovators,” Transportation Topics explained.
As an employee of Jack Cooper Transport, Gene hauled new cars across the country. After that, he returned home to Mountain View, Missouri, which is not far from where Convoy’s headquarters is located. Now, as a Convoy of Hope volunteer, Gene delivers food, water, and other relief supplies to those in need across the map. He recalled occasions on which he hauled everything from 30,000 live hens to tractor-trailers full of ice.
“I just like to help people,” he said. Gene went on to explain that his skill set and Convoy’s needs made for a nearly perfect collaboration.
The past year has brought Gene to the East, West, and Gulf Coasts in Convoy of Hope tractor-trailers.
“Gene has moved 13 loads for us this year traveling 12,000 miles,” said Kelby Marlin, Convoy’s Transportation Director. “His longest trip put him on the road eight days, and he traveled 4,000 miles to Lynwood, Washington, and back.”
Only a few weeks ago, as Hurricane Ida was forming in the Gulf of Mexico, Gene was on the phone with Convoy of Hope asking how he could help. In the first several weeks of Convoy’s response to Ida, Gene drove multiple loads of relief supplies to southern Louisiana to help affected communities.
Convoy of Hope is grateful for volunteers like Gene Woolsey, who make it possible for people around the world to receive the help they need.
