GREAT FALLS — Sometimes getting into the holiday spirit is a little easier when you’re able to lift others up along the way - and that’s exactly what Brian Belderrain and his staff did in Great Falls on Thursday as part of their annual "Stuff The Truck" event.
They visited stores including Walmart and Ross and racked up bills of more than $1,000, but the things they bought weren’t for themselves.
According to Belderrain, a portion of the money that Lithia Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Great Falls makes on every vehicle sale is set aside with the purpose of putting it back into the community,
“We’ve been doing this for a couple years now,” Belderrain said. “It really ramped up last year. Every car we sell throughout the entire year, we set money aside to go back into our community, whether it's for our teens, for vets, Toys for Tots. We’ll be doing Stuff The Truck this month so if you get a toy come stuff our truck, we’ll match two trucks full so fill one truck, we’ll fill up two more. It just started with the heart of the employees here and we’re really blessed in this community with a very successful store, and we just want to make an impact and give back. Whether it’s our basketball camp that we run. We’re fortunate to be able to do that.”
Brian and his co-workers hauled bags of clothes from Ross into one of their trucks, then carefully drove back to the dealership, making sure not to lose any bags along the way.
When they got back to the 10th Avenue building, the drove a freshly cleaned car into the showroom, front and center. From there they transferred all the bags from Ross into the bed of the second trunk, filling it entirely with bags, good will and holiday spirit. Once that was done, the crew headed back out to Walmart to continue their quest.
“It’ll make a bigger difference in your life than it probably will on the people that you’ll help,” Belderrain said with a smile. “If you get out there and just help. Whether it’s volunteering or whether it’s monetary, it’ll just improve your life as much as it will improve somebody else’s. There’s a big need in this town, there’s a big need all the way through the United States, but in this town, you can make a difference in somebody’s life, and it’ll make a difference in yours as well.”
If you want to help Lithia Chrysler Jeep Dodge, you can participate in this month's Stuff The Truck event. Simply bring a toy to the dealership and throw it into the bed of the truck. Brian and his staff will match all toy donations, before delivering them in December.
