CareForce Containers Deliver Help on a Larger Scale

Of the thousands of tons of freight CSX moves every year, none is quite as precious as the hope and help delivered by CareForce 1 and CareForce 2 – two 53-foot containers that CSX has donated to City Year, a national nonprofit organization engaged in the transformation of schools, parks, and communities through physical service. The containers act as enormous portable tool sheds, housing every kind of building, gardening, painting, office, power and clean-up tool imaginable.

Frequent Travelers: Last year CareForce 1 and CareForce 2, two containers donated by CSX to City Year, together logged more than 16,000 miles in support of the national organization's service days.

"Each one is like a Home Depot on wheels," says Christopher Farr, CareForce Project Manager for City Year. "Not only did CSX donate them, they also transport the containers around the country to our service events, free of charge."

CareForce 1, which was first deployed in June 2007, serves the East Coast and logged 7,646 miles last year, while the year-younger CareForce 2 handles the area west of the Mississippi and travelled 8,790 miles in its first year of duty.

Says Farr, "With the containers, we are able to serve more children, community members and service partners, and the amount of money we save on tools and materials enables us to engage more volunteers and complete a wider variety of service tasks. As a nonprofit, we would be unable to afford these containers and the cost of transportation without this support. They truly are the greatest service resource ever."