These are your #LocalHeroes — ordinary people doing extraordinary things in Sweetwater County. This SweetwaterNOW series highlights those often unnoticed acts of kindness to the incredible actions of many in our community.

ROCK SPRINGS — When local trucker Joey Majko saw stranded truckers at the Sweetwater Events Complex back in November an idea popped in his head. 

Joey had the idea to feed the truckers dinner while they waited out a snowstorm that shut down Interstate 80 for a couple of days. 

Before cooking a big meal and heading to the events complex, Joey asked his friends at the city and county if there were any ordinances they knew of that would prevent him from cooking dinners, lunches, and breakfasts and distributing them to the stranded truckers. When he was told there weren’t any, he set his plan in motion.

The first meal Joey ever served the truckers was frozen spaghetti left over from his son’s fundraising benefit. He said the event wasn’t very well attended so they went ahead and froze all of the leftover spaghetti. Joey took it out of the freezer, reheated it and went out to the events complex. 

The truckers’ response was overwhelmingly positive.

Since then, every time the roads are closed for a long period of time, Joey sets to work cooking and distributing meals to the stranded truckers. On average, Joey, his family and friends distribute around 200 to 250 meals every time. They get an estimate prior to making the food by counting how many trucks are parked at the events complex. 

Joey said all of this is happening on the spur of the moment because you never know which snow storm will shut down I-80 or for how long it will be closed. When they find out that I-80 is going to be shut for quite a while, they get the plans going.

Understanding the Trucker’s Life 

Joey has been a trucker since 2006, and a majority of that time was spent over the road. After his son was born with medical issues, he decided to find work locally. 

For Joey, he knows first-hand what it’s like to be stranded in the middle of nowhere not knowing when the road is going to open back up.

“I’ve been in similar situations and stranded in places that aren’t the easiest places to get any services,” Joey said.

He said one time he basically lived off of beef sticks and water for a few days. 

Joey recalled how he got stuck in Gillette, Wyoming, and North Dakota, by storms that just came out of nowhere. If a trucker wasn’t prepared for it, they could go without food and water  because the places they are stranded in can be really desolate. 

“The trucking industry is a good industry, but everybody looks down upon it. And when they got stranded here, I just wanted them to feel appreciated and valued,” Joey explained. 

“As a trucker, it’s kind of miserable,” Joey said. “You don’t see your family, you don’t have a lot of social interaction. It’s kind of like being in a jail cell.” 

Joey knows how lonely it can be to be stuck in the truck for days and wanted to do something. The community helped Joey and his son, when his son was born with 80 percent of his brain damaged and he says this is his way of paying it forward. 

Expanding the Program 

Joey isn’t working alone. His girlfriend Stephanie Byk, his daughters, and friend Sonya Gallegos, along with others have volunteered their time to help with the cause. 

In fact, the group is trying to work with event complex representatives to obtain permission to use the kitchen to cook and prepare food, which they will then deliver to the truckers at the complex. Joey said this would help a lot, because even though he has a pretty big kitchen at his house, it gets crowded when everyone helps out. 

Joey doesn’t want to stop there. He would like to purchase an office trailer and remodel it to include several showers. This way he could take it out to the events complex and give truckers the opportunity to take a shower, which is something they currently can’t do when stranded out there. 

On average, Joey will spend around $450 to purchase all of the food to make dinner and breakfast. Joey said he quickly discovered how easy and convenient breakfast burritos are to make, serve and store in a freezer if needed, so he will probably be making more of those. 

While Joey does accept food and water donations from residents and businesses, he refuses monetary donations from truckers. He said this is his way of thanking them for everything they are doing and showing them that they are appreciated in Rock Springs. 

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