Support local non-profits during Food Truck Thursdays

Real Estate II is hosting a biweekly food truck event in their parking lot at 1140 E. Home Road in an effort to network, build community, fundraise and help promote local non-profit organizations.

Lori Fulk, one of the owners/managing partners of Real Estate II, says that the food truck fundraisers – Food Truck Thursdays – started after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

As food trucks were trying to find atypical places to serve and non-profits were stretched thin, the real estate office felt they could try to do their part to help.

“We all have our pet non-profits we support, and we like to help be civil servants with finding ways to give back to the community,” she says. “We wanted to bring in the food trucks to help them and combine that with bringing in non-profits to get donations and help raise awareness.”

The event took off, and the Real Estate II team decided to schedule Food Truck Thursdays for 2021 also. They reached out to food trucks and organizations and set up biweekly events that started in April and run through Oct. 21.

Some organizations that have benefitted so far this year include the Neighborhood Housing Partnership of Greater Springfield, Keep Clark County Beautiful, and the Animal Welfare League of Clark County, which brought in more than $600 in donations last week.

In addition to the donations collected, the business also features leaders of each non-profit organization in a live podcast to highlight the ways the organization supports the community.

“It’s incredible how grateful the non-profits are to have a platform to share what they have scheduled and how they’re serving the community,” says Ryan King, another owner/managing partner of Real Estate II. “It’s a good place to get in front of the public, and it’s been fun to interact with the non-profits we work with in our industry.”

Lisa Smedley, another Real Estate II owner/managing partner, says the podcasts also give community members insight into ways they can volunteer to support these organizations.

She also says it’s been a good networking opportunity, and it’s been something nice to look forward to.

“To me, it’s a time when people are reemerging from being exceptionally scared to come out and be together. People were in masks and 6 feet apart,” Smedley says. “This is a bridge for people to get back out and see each other again. We’re allowing people to get out safely and opening up new doors for people to get back out into the community again.”