Saturday, August 8th, 2015 was a remarkable day many will remember! What made this summer day extraordinary? SPC’s College of Public Safety hosted their first ever Touch-a-Truck community event! The fun, and family oriented, activity was offered at the Allstate Center and began at 10:00AM and ended around 2:00PM. Smiles graced the faces of all who attended.
Touch-a-Truck activities included:
- The opportunity to literally touch a truck!
- Games including a rock climbing wall
- Giveaways i.e., SPC t-shirts, key chains and much more
- Drawing for a $25 voucher towards SPC’s Learn to Earn program
- St. Petersburg Free Clinic services and resources
Additionally, refreshments, sandwiches, popcorn and Krazy Ice Cream were enjoyed by many of the visitors. And those who attended the event had the opportunity to explore, up close and personal, career paths that impact our community such as fire and rescue, law enforcement, utilities, towing, construction, animal services and medical.
What made the event especially unique was that visitors had the opportunity to literally touch a truck. They could simply view the variety of trucks that were present, if they wanted to, and/or they could actually sit inside the vehicles. How cool is that? As a matter of fact, little Jaden King, age 2, had the opportunity to sit inside the Tibbetts Lumber Company truck with her mother Kim King by her side. What’s exciting about this is that Jaden got to experience being around many different vehicles that may spark an interest in her career choice when she grows up. Other trucks and vehicles that were present, that we see on a daily basis around our community, included: U.S. Army trucks, a Pinellas County Sheriff’s S.W.A.T team truck, a St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue fire truck, a St. Petersburg Police K-9 Unit cruiser, Bayflite helicopter and many, many more!
Dwayne Williams, Allstate Center Student Services Enrollment Advisor, noted: “The Touch-a-Truck event was a huge community relations success and will become an annual staple of our many community outreach programs.”
We’d like to thank everyone who participated, and we’d like to thank Dee Mortellaro, SPC Career Outreach Specialist and Dwayne Williams, Allstate Center Student Services Enrollment Advisor, for the outstanding job they did coordinating this event. We look forward to next year’s Touch-a-Truck event!
For questions regarding how you can get started on a career path that will positively impact your community you can call Dee Mortellaro at (727) 614-7019.
It was a great time! I had a blast meeting all those who came out and participated including the college staff, the truck participants, and most importantly the families around our campus. Good stuff!