Youth & machines
A child dressed up as a firefighter stands next to the back of a Washington State Patrol Car during the Touch a Truck fundraiser organized on Saturday by Mothers of Preschoolers.
COURTESY PHOTO/MOTHERS OF PRESCHOOLERS
A pair of girls laughs in front of a large fire truck during the Mothers of Preschoolers Touch a Truck fundraiser in Moses Lake on Saturday.
Moses Lake Police Code Enforcement Officer Lucky Atkins in front of his animal control truck at the Mothers of Preschoolers Touch a Truck fundraiser on Saturday in Moses Lake.
A family enjoys a sunny Saturday at the Mothers of Preschoolers annual Touch a Truck fundraiser in Moses Lake.
A pair of children smiles from the cab of a very big fire truck at the Mothers of Preschoolers Touch a Truck fundraiser on Saturday.
MOSES LAKE — Mothers of Preschoolers held its second annual Touch a Truck fundraiser at the Moses Lake Presbyterian Church on Saturday.
They couldn’t have picked a better day, according to Marianna Olson, one of the event’s organizers.
“It was amazing weather, and there were people who had a picnic on the grass,” Olson said. “The weather was beautiful.”
Gathered in the large parking lot behind the Moses Lake Presbyterian Church at 1142 W. Ivy Ave. from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. were vehicles from the Moses Lake Fire Department, Grant County Fire District 5, Moses Lake Police Department, Grant County Sheriff’s Office, the Washington State National Guard, the Washington State Patrol, the Grant County Public Utility District, Genie, UPS and Home Depot as well as various construction vehicles, an old truck refurbished to look like Mater the Tow Truck from the movie “Cars,” the Tree Fort Children’s Museum and the Story Barn.
In addition, Olson said there were all the accouterments you would expect to find at an outdoor festival — food, face painting, a balloon artist who even stayed late to make sure all the kids got a balloon sculpture.
“It went well, we had 800 people last year and more than 1,000 this year,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Olson said the group Mothers of Preschoolers organized the first “Touch a Truck” event, so called because it gives children a chance to get up close and personal with emergency vehicles like first trucks and construction equipment, to raise money for the group’s activities.
“We survive by fundraising,” she said. “We support young mothers from pregnancy to when their kids are in kindergarten because it’s hard to get out of the house and find support.”
As for fundraising, Olson said that figure hasn’t been tabulated yet.
“I don’t know the numbers yet,” she said. “But hopefully we did better than last year.”
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.
