TORRINGTON – Driving a semi-truck, hauling everything from live cattle to machine parts to paper products from one end of the country to the other, is arguably one of the most solitary pursuits.

Even though they work alone, behind the wheel for hours a day, truck drivers still require personal contact – from places to park and rest their weary bones to cafes and truck stops to refuel their vehicles and their bodies. But, with the current nation-wide shutdown of most of the places they rely on, truckers are facing challenges even finding a bite to eat.

Jim McKenzie and his wife, Jody, of Torrington decided to do something about that. The owners of Cowboy Up Coffee on West C Street and the Cowboy Up Café, housed in the Torrington Livestock Auction building, reached out Saturday from the parking lot of the Wyoming Port of Entry facility on U.S. Hwy. 26/85 west of town.

“We wanted to thank all these hard-working truckers,” Jim said. “I don’t think people realize how important the supply chain is. These guys are out doing this because they have to.”

Jim’s idea was simple – they own a restaurant, one of many closed now by government edict and truckers need a square meal.

It seemed almost a match made in the stars.

Seed of an idea

“I was having a beer on the couch the other night,” Jim said. “I just said to myself, ‘Let’s feed those truckers out there.’”

So, Saturday morning, that’s just what they did.

Jim and Jody, assisted by family friends Evan and Michelle Brooks, opened the Cowboy Café kitchen and started making sack lunches. By shortly after 10 a.m., the quartet had produced about 80 club sandwiches, adding chips and a snack for later. 

They loaded everything into their vehicles, grabbed a few cases of bottled water, and headed out to do their good deed.

“People need to show truckers a little help,” Jim said. “We just want to show our appreciation because, without them, we wouldn’t have anything to fight over in the stores.”

The group handed out about a dozen meals in the first 45 minutes – each in its own separate brown paper sack with the words “Thank You” written on the front. To a person, each of the truck drivers who was surprised by a kind face and food as they pulled onto the Port of Entry scales broke into smiles, thanking Jody and Michelle as they reached up to deliver their tasty gifts.

“They were thankful to know they’re appreciated,” Jim said. “They seemed to appreciate that.”

Giving back

It would almost be understandable if the McKenzie’s – whose livelihood has been impacted by the forced closure of eateries around the state by order of Gov. Mark Gordon –  just hunkered down and cared for themselves first. They’ve fared better than some and, besides, that’s not the way Jim and Jody work, he said.

“We’re not rich, but through this last period of tough times, we’ve been fortunate enough to not take a real hard hit in our business,” Jim said. “Instead of just pocketing all the money and being greedy, it felt like the right thing to do and to give something back.

“Sometimes, it’s okay to take a little loss and do the right thing, I think,” he said. “I’m not going to be so scared of something that I don’t try to do some good. I just refuse.”

Influence others

If there were to be a payout from Jim and Jody’s generosity, Jim hopes it would be their actions spurring someone else in the community to reach out to their neighbors.

“I hope this is going to go across the whole country,” he said. “But you don’t have to do something like this to help somebody – take care of your neighbors, grab a jug of milk for an old person out of the cooler. Just watch out for each other and be nice.”

Overall, Jim’s confident that, despite everything that’s going on in the world right now, people’s better natures will eventually prevail. He sees it regularly at Cowboy Café, with people leaving an extra $20 or $30, earmarked for the next person’s meal or coffee. 

“It happens pretty frequently – people are doing a lot you don’t hear about,” he said. “Most people are good; most people want to do good. They just need an opportunity – they may not know how to do it.

“But it’s easy to help out, it’s easy to do something nice. I just hope everybody gets a chance to do that.”