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Jul 15, 2008 10:03 AM

Ruan Transportation, Des Moines IA, has been providing assistance to victims of the May and June Midwestern tornado and flooding disasters, including coordinating relief efforts to Cedar Rapids and Parkersburg IA, as well as to Shelbyville IN, and Manhattan KS.

Ruan partnered with the American Legion Riders 663 (ALR 663) of Urbandale IA, to coordinate donations for Parkersburg tornado victims, providing food, clothing, and other survival items along with a Ruan driver and a semi-trailer truck.

Paula Shepherd, an ALR 663 member and a Ruan accounting assistant, initiated much of this effort within Ruan and ALR 663 to provide thousands of supplies and more than $1,000 to Parkersburg residents.

When Iowa experienced record flooding in subsequent weeks, Ruan’s Des Moines terminal collected several truckloads of bottled water to send to Cedar Rapids where an estimated 24,000 residents were forced to leave their homes.

Ruan also has assisted in Indiana where Ruan provides service in nine different cities. The carrier provided 40,000 pounds of relief to four counties by filling a 53-foot Ruan trailer. Ruan volunteers collected and helped distribute over 200 cases of water, food such as canned goods and non-perishable items, as well as paper products and personal care items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant and soap.

In Manhattan, Jeff Allen, a Ruan driver, overheard Kevin Jones, a Ruan terminal manager, arranging a relief load and volunteered to stay on the job, despite being only hours away from a planned family vacation. Within two hours of the call the truck was loaded, and Allen and Jones were headed to Manhattan. Ruan again donated the services of truck and driver to provide an emergency delivery of products to assist those in need in the storm-ravaged town.