The world’s largest potato on wheels embarked on its fourth cross-country tour with a new mission to help local charities across the United States. In a five-month period, the truck will visit 60 cities, travel 22,087 miles and help dozens of charities better serve their communities.

“The Truck has always had a charitable component to it,” Frank Muir, president and chief executive officer of the Idaho Potato Commission, said in a press release. “However the 2015 tour is going to be a little more personal. We’ll be working with different charities in each market and helping them in ways that are tailored specifically to them. We already know that the truck brings smiles to people wherever it goes but now it’s also helping people and that feels pretty good.”

In Idaho, University of Idaho Extension 4-H Youth Development clubs and local food banks were the first to benefit from the truck’s new mission.  Eighteen 4-H clubs in nine counties across the state hosted a 12-day Food Drive Challenge. The Wild West 4-H club from Dietrich in Lincoln County won the Challenge by collecting 680 pounds of food and received $500 from the IPC to fund a community service project of its choice. To demonstrate its commitment to this new mission, the IPC made a 4,200-pound Idaho potato donation to the Idaho Food Bank in Boise, ID, which equals the total weight of the food collected by all the clubs.

The first stop on the 2015 tour will be the Kentucky Derby, where the Truck will make its third appearance in the popular Pegasus Parade.  Other major stops on the Tour include NASCAR in Bristol, TN; the National Memorial Day Parade in Arlington, VA; and the Seafair Festival in Seattle. The Truck will also visit key retailers and foodservice operators located across the country.

For those who want to follow the Truck throughout the summer, www.potatotracker.com provides a live feed of the oversize spud, allowing visitors to see where it is any time of day. There’s also a new toll-free number, 844-BIGIDAHO, folks can call to hear a special message from Mark “A Real Idaho Potato Farmer” who appears in the IPC’s national television commercials.

Additionally, social media channels will continue to provide Spud lovers with direct interaction with the Tater Team, the threesome that travels with the Truck, and the latest news on the Tour.

To date, the Truck has visited 48 states — all but Hawaii and Alaska — traveled through more than 3,000 towns and cities, and traveled 68,795 miles since its 2012 launch celebrating the 75th anniversary of the IPC.

The Big Idaho Potato Truck was built by Chris Schofield and Sharolyn Spruce of Weiser, ID, with the help of a few specialized contractors. The truck took a full year to design and build.