Bellevue Public Schools held their first annual Food Truck Rally on Thursday, April 12 from 5-8 p.m. in the Lied Activity Center parking lot.

The rally entailed multiple food trucks including The Gyro Shack, Johnny Rico’s Brooklyn Pizza, Beyond BBQ and several others. Many organizations like BJSA set up tables at the event as well.

“Choosing food trucks is a tricky process,” District Partnerships Facilitator, Garrett Sims said. “Having a nice variety of foods is one of the top priorities. As far as how many trucks to have it all depends on how big of a crowd is expected.”

Sparked from the success of the Unity Rally held earlier in the school year, the idea of the Food Truck Rally rose.

“The original idea behind this event was to have a gathering of all of the different schools across the district,” Sims said. “This event is being held to support the staff and student recognition program.”

The rally has provided the opportunity to display recognition of students and staff throughout the district. Along with food trucks displaying their craft, the rally offered the chance to partner with Green Bellevue. Instead of having a table at an event, they were more interested in the larger goal at hand: to achieve Zero Waste sent to the landfill.

“The idea to volunteer to manage the waste came to me last year when we were invited to have a table to promote our organization at Foodstock,” Green Bellevue member Ruth Richter said. “Rather than have a table, I was more interested in how the waste was going to be managed.”

Richter later explained that their club presence at the event would be an educational opportunity about waste management for the attendees.

Organizations such as Green Bellevue, and even food trucks, all had the opportunity to offer their expertise. In addition, many students, staff, and Bellevue locals were able to enjoy what the trucks and tables had to offer, as well as each other’s company.

Although BPS has hosted the Unity Rally, and other elementary schools have hosted similar events in the past, this was the first Food Truck Rally for Bellevue Public Schools.