The Heroes F-150 campaign was looking for the ultimate community hero, and it found one in Gordon Nelms, of Mount Pleasant, Texas. We previously thought a winner for the Heroes F-150 program, presented by Ford and ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” would be announced in June, but the announcement made on Tuesday was still very sweet.
Nelms has been actively involved with the Titus County community for more than 35 years, working with Titus County charities including the Food Pantry and various Salvation Army endeavors. The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle program organized more than 250 bell ringers to help provide Christmas gifts for nearly 2000 children through the Empty Stocking program, while the Food Pantry feeds about 800 families each month in and around Mount Pleasant.
“Gordon has a huge heart for the needs of our community,” wrote Michelle Woodruff, board secretary of the non-profit organization Titus County Cares about Nelms’ nomination. “He is literally on call 24/7 for the Police and Fire Departments for the homeless or people stranded in our area. He is constantly picking up people in his own vehicle who are stranded, homeless, and in need of safe shelter or a hot meal. Gordon drives an older sedan that is really not large enough to accommodate his needs for the various projects he does. A larger, more reliable vehicle would help out immensely when transporting the large amount of food items.”
As the winner of the campaign, Nelms received a brand new 2010 F-150 and $250,000, which will be spent towards a new community center to store food and feed families.
“Ford’s generous donation will provide our organization with the assets needed to help finish construction on one convenient, centralized location where families in need receive assistance,” Nelms said. “We ran out of room at our church where we’ve been storing items for the Food Pantry. Our new facility will now have the storage space to accommodate our supply, and the new F-150 can handle the tough job of hauling food items continuously throughout each month.”
Source: Ford