From Iowa to Oklahoma, truck-fulls of heart

Mike Hlas

Jun. 6, 2013 3:57 pm

From Iowa to Oklahoma, truck-fulls of heart

<div><div id="gaz-inline-engage"></div></div><p class="article__body">The two trucks from Eastern Iowa that delivered supplies to Oklahoma tornado victims on Monday bore the colors and logo of the Iowa Hawkeyes. But they represented far more than a football team.</p> <p class="article__body">"Mike Riggan and Iowa football have gotten way too much credit to this point," Riggan said.</p> <div><div class="opscoad-ad-leaderboard-article"></div> </div><p class="article__body">Muscatine's Riggan may not like me saying this, but he deserves plenty of credit. He figuratively and literally put the wheels in motion once Moore, Okla., endured tornado-devastation on May 20.</p> <p class="article__body">For 30 years, Riggan has had a role in transporting Iowa football equipment. If you've been to a Hawkeye game, home or away, you've surely seen his truck.</p> <p class="article__body">He wants this known, crisply and clearly: Yes, his TanTara Transportation supplied the two trucks and drove them to Oklahoma City this week. Yes, Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz immediately signed off on having the vehicles that transport Hawkeye equipment to road games being used on this mission of mercy. Yes, Ferentz contacted Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops, a former Hawkeye player and graduate assistant coach. Stoops and a group of his offfensive and defensive linemen were at the receiving end when the trucks got to Oklahoma City Monday morning.</p> <p class="article__body">But the people who filled those trucks with all sorts of useful items, from rakes to diapers, were a vast number of Iowans (and others) who provided the supplies and cash to give Moore's families some needed and welcomed help.</p> <div> <style>#placement_665573_0_i{width:100%;margin:0 auto;}</style><script type="text/javascript">var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid665573 = window.pid665573 || rnd;var plc665573 = window.plc665573 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=665573;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid665573+';place='+(plc665573++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('<scr'+'ipt src="'+absrc+'" type="text/javascript"></'+'script>');</script> <div id="empower-inarticle"></div></div><p class="article__body">"It was the people of Muscatine, Davenport, Eldridge, Letts, Fruitland, and everyplace else who donated these goods," Riggan said.</p> <p class="article__body">After that tornado clobbered Moore, Riggan said he couldn't sleep. "When the tornado hit here in Muscatine in '07, my house and business were a mile, a mile-and-half from it," he said. "I had no damage, but a lot of people here lost their homes."</p> <p class="article__body">So when Moore got hit, Riggan said "I felt like we had to do something." He already had experience in mobilizing for good causes. Annually, TanTara spearheads a "Freezin' for Food" campaign in Muscatine, in which a Hawk Truck is used to collect and store food items for the Salvation Army to distribute to Muscatine-area families in need.</p> <p class="article__body">Local radio stations KWPC and KMCS got on board to promote this effort for Moore. So did Krieger Motor, where the truck was parked for people to fill with supplies. Riggan's granddaughter, a first-grader, suggested a truck be brought to her school in Eldridge. So TanTara's older Hawk Truck spent a day at Edward White Elementary, sandwiched between days at Davenport Hy-Vees.</p> <p class="article__body">People responded. And responded. And responded.</p> <p class="article__body">The main thing was to bring those people things they needed right away.</p> <p class="article__body">"They didn't need clothes and water down there," Riggan said. "They were getting semi-loads of water. They needed items you need in your daily life that you really don't think about. Toothpaste, shampoo, paper towels. Baby items were essential, Pampers, baby powder.</p> <p class="article__body">"We wound up with nine full mattress sets. There were chainsaws, garden rakes for clean-up, tub after tub of gloves. One of my vendors gave us thousands of dollars worth of high-quality tarps for their roofs.</p> <p class="article__body">"We had a lot of help."</p> <p class="article__body">Riggan drove one truck from Muscatine to Oklahoma City, and his son, Jeff Riggan, drove the other. They went to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, where they were met by Stoops and a platoon of his players on Monday morning. It gave the players a chance to help, and they also got a different kind of workout than normal. In just 90 minutes, the players had those trucks unloaded. The food bank then began distributing the items to those in need.</p> <p class="article__body">“We want to thank our friends in Iowa for their generosity and compassion,” said Rodney Bivens, the non-profit organization's executive director. "To see OU football players unloading donations from two Hawkeye trucks once they arrived in Oklahoma was pretty amazing. It just shows how things like football rivalry get set aside during times of disaster.”</p> <p class="article__body">Dawn Burroughs, the vice president of marketing and development of that food bank, sent me the following sentiments in an e-mail:</p> <p class="article__body">"The generosity of the folks from Iowa really moved us all. ... There were some beautiful handmade quilts on the truck with heartfelt messages pinned to them, which I thought was extremely thoughtful. We've already handed those out to families in Moore and they were extremely appreciative.</p> <p class="article__body">"People from all over have truly been amazing in their compassion."</p> <p class="article__body">Riggan shrugs off his own role, saying "I'm fortunate. I've had a good run in life. I'm fortunate I can do stuff like this once in a while."</p> <p class="article__body">It didn't matter what colors or logos were on those trucks as they rolled across the plains. They represented Iowa well.</p> <p class="article__body"><iframe loading="lazy" width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/P5T_zlKOu8A?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="1">

Oklahoma football players unload supplies from the Hawk Truck (Photos courtesy Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma)

Mike Riggan, Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops, Jeff Riggan

Stoops and his Sooners

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