Trucker rounds up donations to haul to California in wildfire relief efforts

A truck driver astonished by the devastation in California is organizing donation efforts to help those affected by the wildfires. 

Truck driver Landon Cheatham typically hauls to California two to three times a week, and was astonished at the devastation caused by the recent fires in Los Angeles. Once back home in Utah, Cheatham posted to a Facebook group offering to haul any donations he could collect back to California. Since making the post, Cheatham has already delivered two truckloads of supplies to a food bank in Los Angeles, but is still seeing donations flood in.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Cheatham to Fox 13. “I never thought that just from a simple Facebook post, it would turn into this, but it has so we’re going to keep going. We’ll keep building and helping as many people as we can.”

More than 30 businesses across Utah have volunteered as drop-off locations for the donation efforts. Needed items include toiletries, food, clothes, and large cardboard boxes. 

“At the end of the day, it’s about building community, and it doesn’t matter if you’re in Salt Lake City or you’re in California,” said the owner of Kahve Cafe, one of the drop-off locations. “People are people, you know? When people are hurting, you help people.”

One of the locations even received an entire semi truck full of N24 masks. So far, the group has filled two 53 foot trailers and three sprinter vans with donated items. 

“We’re not going to stop until the donations stop coming in or California tells us to stop coming in,” Cheatham said.

If you live in Utah and are interested in donating, a list of participating drop-off locations can be found here.