Planes, trains, and automobiles — oh, my!

Foundation answers organizations’ calls to get things moving forward

Well, maybe not airplanes, but trains and automobiles for sure. No, this isn’t a revival of the 1987 classic comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy. Instead, it’s how Fremont Bank Foundation keeps organizations chug-chug-chugging along by giving back in unexpected ways.

The Foundation has long received requests for various types of transportation – a horse trailer (more on this later), golf carts, pickups and maintenance trucks – from diverse Bay Area nonprofits in what becomes a collaborative effort.

“We work closely with our partners to really determine what their priorities are,” said Brian Hughes, Executive Vice President at Fremont Bank and President/Executive Director at Fremont Bank Foundation. “There are all kinds of reasons local nonprofits might ask the Foundation for a vehicle of some sort. Each organization’s vehicle needs are so different that communication really becomes key for us to truly understand the need, usage, and benefits to the agency before a grant is issued.”

Get that motor running ... head out on the highway (or train tracks!)

The Oakland Zoo, for one, found itself hampered by maintenance issues on its old train, leading to revenue loss. So, building on its long-standing relationship, the Foundation team met with Oakland Zoo to talk about its needs, and that conversation resulted in a $259,000 grant. Now visitors can enjoy one of the Foundation’s most recent – and recognizable – donations when they ride the Oakland Zoo’s new electric train through the wonders of the Australian Outback.

Well before the locomotive unveiling, Oakland Zoo added to its cache of new, reliable, comfortable transportation with an electric car for taking small animals to schools and other venues, a golf cart for educational programs, and a non-electric bus for field trip transportation. All proudly powered by Fremont Bank Foundation.

Revving on all cylinders

Another local donation that stands out is the Foundation’s $60,000 grant to Oakland Children’s Fairyland for its purchase of a maintenance truck and electric charger installation. Julie Moore, Senior Manager, Community Outreach, Fremont Bank, noted that any new means of transportation aids in making these businesses more efficient as a whole.

“At Oakland Children’s Fairyland, they made it work without a truck, but they spent a lot of time lugging things around often, with a wheelbarrow,” Moore said. “Now, it’s less of a burden on the employees when they use the truck. They are much more efficient and can do a lot more of what needs to be done.”

Things that make you go vroom!

The Foundation wasn’t horsing around when it agreed to support a horse trailer for the East Bay Regional Parks Foundation. The horse trailer is used to haul Regional Parks Police Department horses from place to place. Since that time, the Foundation also has helped the East Bay Regional Parks Foundation buy six equipment trailers that carry gear for volunteer work, and, more recently, it secured an emergency response all-terrain vehicle for the fire department.

Mobile health services (Abode Services, Bay Area Community Health), passenger (Abode Services, Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley, California Community Opportunities, Oakland Zoo, The Taylor Family Foundation), and food delivery (Bay Area Community Health, Kidango, Tri-City Volunteers Food Bank) vans have been a common wish too.

“It’s really about mobility and getting to where people are, and the medical and food vans, specifically, take the services directly where the clients are,” Moore said. “The vehicle requests are not only fun, but practical. It’s terrific to see these organizations streamline their operations with the help of a new set of wheels.”