Summit Electric Supply Donates Food Truck to Feed Homeless

Vehicle's Launch: Sunday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. at First and Iron, Downtown Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Summit Electric Supply has donated a small catering truck to help the state's largest homeless shelter expand its services.

Dubbed the "Lifeline of Hope," the food vehicle will enable Joy Junction to provide simple food and beverages to the city's ever-increasing homeless population.

Summit Electric CEO Vic Jury Hands Vehicle Keys  to Joy Junction's Jeremy Reynalds

"This outreach could make the difference between life and death to someone cold, hungry and frightened,"said shelter founder and CEO, Dr. Jeremy Reynalds.

Joy Junction has been turning away as many as 25 people a night for lack of space. Joy Junction has two vans and one small bus for transporting the homeless to the shelter and for giving out coats and blankets. But Reynalds envisioned a truck that could meet the homeless who remain on the streets, and provide warm food and drinks to show that someone cares.

Summit President and CEO Victor R. Jury Jr., a long-time supporter of Joy Junction, read about the idea in a recent shelter newsletter. He found the 2006 Chevrolet Silverado that had been converted into a catering truck on eBay. It was in West Palm Beach, Fla.

He bought the vehicle for Joy Junction and donated Reynalds one of his free airline tickets to pick it up.

Jury said, "When I read Jeremy's newsletter article in which he shared his vision for a mobile catering vehicle to provide a homeless person a warm cup of cocoa or coffee, some soup or a sandwich or maybe a blanket or jacket on a cold day, I couldn't stop thinking about how simple and doable it was."

He added, "Knowing that until folks like us step up and help Jeremy build more capacity at Joy Junction, he has to turn people away at night made it unconscionable to do nothing. This is the first step. The next order of business is for our company and community to step up and build more capacity at Joy Junction. Children should not be forced to sleep outdoors or in a car, especially on a cold winter night."

The food vehicle will launch its mission Sunday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. at the corner of First and Iron in downtown Albuquerque, an area often frequented by the homeless, and one of Joy Junction's regular pick-up locations.

The "Lifeline of Hope" will also make it way Sunday to a number of other locations. It will be stocked to serve at least 150 on its launch. It is estimated that each serving will cost, on average, $1.25.

A few donors have joined Summit in giving a modest amount of start-up resources, but Reynalds is counting on the community to provide financial and volunteer support.

About Joy Junction

Joy Junction, a Christian ministry founded in 1986, provides food, shelter and safety to about 300 people on a daily basis. The shelter accepts families, as well as individual men and women, and provides a "life recovery program" that teaches job skills and social skills to help the homeless regain employment and housing.

About Summit Electric Supply

Founded in 1977, Summit Electric Supply is an independent wholesale distributor of electrical equipment. Headquartered in Albuquerque, N.M., Summit operates 19 service centers in four states, a global export division based in Houston, a marine division based in New Orleans, and a sales office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For more information, go to www.summit.com.