Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — April 24, 2025 — From new city trolleys and heavy equipment to emergency vehicles and helicopters, Touch A Truck continues to grow as more is added to this fun, family friendly event each year. The ninth annual event will be Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the NEA Baptist Clinic parking lot, located at 4802 E. Johnson Ave. in Jonesboro.
According to Nettleton High School EAST Facilitator Sandra Taylor, the school started Touch A Truck in 2015 and it was such a success they continued it every year, apart from the year COVID prevented gatherings.
“It is hosted by Nettleton High School EAST, but then we invite other programs to collaborate with us,” Taylor said. “We are the planners and the organizers. Our students are the ones that get the word out and work to get everything together. They make the contacts and do the radio interviews.”
Not only does this event bring the community together, but she said it gives children the opportunity to explore different vehicles and see jobs that are going to be available, while giving them a chance to talk to some of the operators and learn about the jobs.
Nettleton High School Counselor Amanda Wahn also noted how much the kids truly enjoy the event.
“The kids love it,” Wahn stated. “What’s funny is that, probably, one of the favorite attractions is the garbage truck. They love that, and they love the school bus. You would think that they would all be familiar with it because they’re all school-age children. They love the helicopter; they love it all.”
Among the wide variety of vehicles are street sweepers, excavators, skid steers, tractors and farm equipment, dump trucks, bucket trucks, police cruisers and motorcycles, firetrucks, ambulances, helicopters, and buses.
“They think it’s really cool,” Wahn added. “They love getting to honk the horns and to make all the noise they can. They love actually getting to climb on them. Seeing it on a job site, they don’t have a concept of how large it actually is and to be able to go and climb and see is eye opening to a lot of them.”
Of the new vehicle attractions added this year, Taylor noted a new City of Jonesboro trolley, as well as some new race cars and motorcycles.
“It’s has grown each year, and more and more people contact us to ask about participating, which is really cool,” Taylor said. “They look forward to it. It’s just neat to see people tagging everyone and saying, ‘Hey, you know Touch A Truck is coming. Don’t forget it.’”
Wahn and Taylor, who have both been helping with Touch A Truck since its beginning, continue to work on the event over the year to hopefully make it better for everyone in the community. Their main goal, however, is to help raise money for HopeCircle, a NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation program. All proceeds go to the local nonprofit, which offers hope and support to those facing life-changing illnesses, she said.
“That’s something that our kids learned, to give to others and to be a part of our community and how they can support them” Taylor said.
On average, the event raises between $6,000 to $7,500 each year. Although the set entry is $5 per person or $20 max for families of five or more, Taylor said they don’t turn anyone away. “We get a lot of people, and we don’t want anyone not to get the experience,” she said. “We let everybody in. If people would like to make a donation to HelpCircle, it’s welcome, but if they choose not to then we’re not keeping them from experiencing everything.”
Touch A Truck has truly become a family event for Wahn as her entire family has participated in the event since the very beginning. From monetary donations and loading and unloading to making contacts and doing radio interviews, they all play a part.
“They’ve just been instrumental in us actually getting to have Touch A Turck each year,” Taylor said of Wahn’s family.
There will be free food and drinks (first come first serve) provided by First Community Bank, Andy’s, Polar Roller, Frito Lays, Pepsi, and possibly Coca-Cola. Other activities include giveaways, games, face painting, tattoos, balloon art, Lego station and more.