The promotional toy trucks purchased by the City of Kamloops to hand out to kids include a bucket truck, pickup truck and garbage truck.
Image Credit: TWITTER / Jeff Putnam
March 05, 2020 - 7:00 AM
The City of Kamloops has just received a fleet of 2,000 new vehicles - specifically for kids.
Miniature versions of the City’s service vehicles such as garbage trucks, bucket trucks and pickup trucks have been created as a way to connect City staff with the families they serve.
Jeff Putnam, the City’s Parks and Civic Facilities manager, says some staff have noticed how fascinated children are by the vehicles and decided to offer them their own tiny versions.
“In the past, the City has purchased colouring books for kids and different stickers, things like that. It really came out of our sanitation department, where the garbage truck drivers have a lot of kids who wait for the garbage truck to come by every week,” Putnam says.
He says the department was brainstorming ideas on what else to do for the young Kamloops residents when Public Works and Utilities director Jen Fretz came up with the idea.
The toys will soon be given out to various departments, and the supervisors will then distribute them to staff. He says they should be ready to be handed out this spring.
“With parks crews out in public, or garbage person, they sometimes have a positive interaction with families who have young children, so we wanted something unique that they’d be really excited to receive,” Putnam says.
Although he mentioned they were Hot Wheels toys in a recent tweet, they are not made by that company.
For now, Putnam says they will be distributed as quantities are available, and he isn’t yet certain about retail opportunities. He says they may consider speaking with Tourism Kamloops about selling the toys.
Putnam says the toy vehicles cost the City “a few dollars a piece” to make.
Fretz was not available to confirm the cost of the project.
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