​​Charlotte County, Virginia

​The above photo is an older photograph, but much of our team is the same today!

 Our current members include:

Carolyn Amos, Tamara Setzer, Lewis and Dottie Carwile, Robert and Annette Clowdis, Shelby Davis, Jane Eagle, Ginny Elder, Ryan Elder, Shannon and Steve Feinman, Cole Feinman, Kim Gloss, Patty Gormus, Tim and Jennifer Grey, Sullivan Grey, Tommy Hamlett, Betsy Hanmer, Linda Hicks, Brenda Bartges, Kermit and Rhonda Jones, Meagan Jones, Adrian Friend, Darrin and Sheila Jones, Susan Jones, Joy Medley, Helene Kimlick, Johnny and Cindy Korn, Stephen and Emily Lawhorne, Dax Lawhorne, Tracie Lenhart, Pete Lipscomb, Hazel Lockridge, Bobby and Theresa Long, Cassie Long, Tammy Jo Mann, Shirley Martin, Bonnie Gilliam, Ed Miller, Jenny Booker, Cookie Milton, Kim Newcomb, Charky Paulette, Mary Ann Price, Joey Pugh, Janet Slaw, Gayle Smith, Paige Smith, Nathan Smith, Peggy Tharpe, Mary Tucker, Michelle Jones, Janet Owens, Brenda Vassar, Greg Vassar, Cheryl Vassar, Denie Wallace, Adam Scott, Patty and Chris Morris, Alfreda Davis, and Kim Warren

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Sheila Dodd Jones' aunt, Elner Hancock, formed a team in the spring of 1997 in memory of her sister, Carroll H. Dodd, after Carroll passed away from breast cancer. She did this to honor her sister and the long battle she had endured. After the first year, Elner's family and Sheila joined in with the Cookie Crumbles Relay for Life team, led by Cookie Milton. After participating in the relay and team fundraising events for several years, Sheila began feeling like the normal fundraisers, such as yard sales and bake sales, just were not bringing in the dollars needed to find a cure for this horrible disease.

Sheila began to brainstorm with her husband, Darrin, about alternatives to the average fundraisers. The Jones family had several ties in the trucking industry. Not only was Darrin a truck driver, but his family consisted of a trucking company's co-owners, a truck salesman, and a truck repair shop owner. The logical way to proceed was to find a way to involve trucks in this new venture.

Darrin and Sheila then came up with an idea. Why not try a parade of trucks? From the first year, Darrin's uncle, Kermit Jones, and his wife, Rhonda, have been involved in the planning of the event. Kermit (a truck salesman for Virginia Truck Center) used his contacts to help recruit trucks for the parade. Virginia Truck Center offered to help Dodd's Farm Supply (Sheila's father's company) with the expenses of the event. This ensured that all the money donated by the truckers and trucking company owners would go directly toward the fundraising goal for the American Cancer Society.

​The idea of the Trucker's Parade Against Cancer (TPAC) was brought to life in the Fall of 2000. The team captain of Cookie Crumbles even forfeited her team name and became the TPAC Relay Team to help with the entire event. The annual Truckers Parade is not your typical Christmas parade. In this event, trucks each carry at least once banner in memory or in honor of a loved one that has fought the battle against cancer. As the trucks travel through four towns within Charlotte County, Virginia, people line the streets to show their support, to cheer, and to wave to the drivers and riders.

This group of truckers, sponsors, TPAC team members, and volunteers are a one-of-a-kind group of people. They are determined to provide support for survivors who are battling cancer, for those that have overcome this disease, and to remember those lost to cancer. 

The Truckers Parade Against Cancer that started in Charlotte County also inspired other parades in Galax and Nelson County, Virginia to begin in later years.

The TPAC Team cannot express in words the emotion that one feels when the truck parade rolls through the county. We could never provide enough thanks to the awesome group of truckers that participate each year and continue to make the Trucker's Parade Against Cancer the success that it has become.

Meet The TPAC Team