As part of Combilift’s celebrations for its 25th anniversary, the Irish materials handling specialist has announced that it is donating its 75,000th truck – an Aisle Master articulated forklift – to Convoy of Hope, a non-profit humanitarian and disaster relief organization.

Convoy of Hope works alongside communities and its wide network of volunteers aim to alleviate poverty and hunger and to bring help and hope wherever they are most needed in the world. As this type of aid is sadly always in demand, operational expansion has also seen a corresponding increase in the requirement for warehousing capacity to accommodate the vast volume of supplies that are stored and ready for delivery to areas in need.

The World Distribution Center is based in Springfield, Missouri, and from this location at the “crossroads of America” truckloads of relief supplies and food are sent on their way across the USA and further afield around the globe. Combilift supplied its first Aisle Master for this site four years ago, and a further three units were delivered last year. Convoy of Hope’s Senior Director – Distribution Jeff Smethers: “A lot of our exponential growth has been down to the Aisle Masters as they enable us to get more loads in and out faster. And thanks to Combilift’s free warehouse layout service and the Aisle Master’s narrow aisle capability we have achieved the best possible storage density and very efficient operation.”

The announcement was made at a gala dinner in Chicago during the ProMat trade fair, and Combilift’s CEO and Co-Founder Martin McVicar said: “The work that Convoy of Hope does is invaluable to relieve suffering around the world and we wanted to make our own contribution by donating our 75,000th truck to this very worthwhile charity.”

Erick Meier, Senior Vice President – Supply Chain at Convoy of Hope said ”We are so grateful that Combilift and Martin and the whole team have actually given us one of these trucks for our operations. This is going to help people for years – and ensure that every day someone in the world will receive aid – and that brings hope.”