Chris’s Coffee & Custard is expanding. Today, the shop celebrated the launch of its new food truck, Chris’s Custard Truck. The truck will provide additional on-the-job training for individuals with intellectual, developmental, and physical special abilities.
The custard truck is an exciting expansion for this small, family-owned coffee shop that opened just a year and a half ago. Beth and Chris Woodrum, a mother/son team, have operated the shop as an arm of LovAble Services, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing on-the-job training for individuals with special abilities.
Community members and supporters gathered in the parking lot of Chris’s Coffee & Custard to celebrate the opening of Chris Woodrum’s new food truck – Chris’s Custard Truck. After a short presentation, Chris Woodrum shouted, “We’re open!” The crowd responded with cheers and applause.
Celebration attendees were treated to samples of vanilla and chocolate custard, hand delivered by Chris and the other young adults who work at the coffee shop. Community members were also granted a sneak peak inside the newly refurbished food truck.
The truck has been a long time coming. Co-owner Beth Woodrum says that she and her son Chris Woodrum started talking about opening a custard truck nearly a year ago, in September 2022.
In addition to running his coffee shop, Chris Woodrum wanted to find a way to get out in the community, meet people, and give out his signature hugs. This was Beth Woodrum’s way of making that happen for her son.
“We were being invited out to events, but didn’t have a good way to do them,” Beth Woodrum says.
They purchased a used, empty box truck thanks to a Dulaney Foundation grant. The truck needed a lot of work.
Noke Van Co. was in charge of the refurbishment of the truck. The truck was only a shell when they started, according to Noke Van Co. owner Justin vanBlaricom. The project was a major undertaking, he says.
“It took everything we had,” Justin vanBlaricom says. But Noke Van Co. owners Justin and Keri vanBlaricom believed in the Woodrums’ mission.
Noke Van Co. added electrical, sliding windows, countertops, refrigerators, and air conditioning. That was just a start.
Once the truck was finished, PublishFast Wraps came along and made sure the truck looked as good on the outside as it functioned on the inside.
“We finished about 20 minutes before this [event] started,” Justin vanBlaricom says.
The Woodrums are now able to run a full café out of the truck, according to Justin vanBlaricom.
This fall, the truck will be available to hire for private events and festivals. Custard fans will first see the truck debut at Roanoke’s Taco Fest, to be held at Elmwood Park on September 9.
“We’ve always wanted to allow people to see how special [these young adults] really are and what they can do. Maybe it will help [business owners] see that they can also hire young adults with special abilities,” Beth Woodrum says.
Beth Woodrum is driven to provide on-the-job training for young adults with special abilities. She views it as God’s calling on her life, she says.
“I know God put Chris in our life for a special purpose. This is what I’m supposed to do. This is my mission field,” Beth Woodrum says.
She loves seeing the excitement of the young adults as they do the things that everyone else is able to do, Beth Woodrum says. “Their excitement and wanting to be a part of things is so exciting.”
Today’s celebration was born out of community support. Employees from Member One, Noke Van Co., and Kovar were some of the groups on hand to cheer for Chris and Beth Woodrum and LovAble Services.
Beth Woodrum says that they rely on community support to achieve their vision, and they are grateful for all the help that has already been given.
“It really means a lot to see how the community supports us and wants to help,” Beth Woodrum says.
Since last December, Beth and Chris Woodrum have been working to raise the money to refurbish the truck and prepare for today’s opening. Kovar donated money for the truck’s equipment, and they’ve had a lot of other community support as well, she says.
Still, LovAble Services needs to raise $35,000 to offset the costs affiliated with operating Chris’s Custard Truck. Unless otherwise earmarked, donations received through the end of this year will be dedicated to food truck operations. Sponsorship opportunities are available, as well as opportunities for one-time donations..
“The expense of just being able to operate is much greater than any place else,” Beth Woodrum says. That’s because Chris’s Coffee & Custard and Chris’s Custard Truck employ both young adults with special abilities and the adults who provide on-site training. That can sometimes double the number of people they have on staff at any given time.
“Fundraising is, is huge for us to be able to cover those extra costs,” Beth Woodrum says.
For more information about LovAble Services, their on-site training programs, and their fundraising needs, visit their website. More information about Chris’s Coffee & Custard and Chris’s Custard Truck can be found here.
