Hello everyone

Heretoserve

New Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2025
Posts
5
Location
Tuscaloosa, AL
I have read many of the threads here and decided to join. To introduce myself I live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and am part of a charity that provides free meals to disaster victims, usually after hurricanes or tornados. We can respond to anywhere within 8-10 hours of home. We have a 30' mobile kitchen and a 24' enclosed supply trailer for food preparation, and a 16" refrigerated trailer for food storage. We usually stay on site for a week or so.

We currently have a Cherokee Limited bumper pull camper for the 4 guys who are working to sleep in. Quite frankly the camper is far nicer than what we need. We are considering adding a second team (second kitchen and supply trailers) and those are really expensive (combined around 200k) but necessary for us to provide what we do. We are looking for a lesser expensive camper solution for the second team.

So I'm looking for comments or advice about that. We are considering buying an inexpensive camper and basically stripping it of everything except the bathroom mainly to be able to get more beds and to reduce the weight to make it easier to tow. We would then add bunk beds and maybe have a small "den" area to sit together after we finish for a day.

We do not need a kitchen or anything like that (we have the mobile kitchen), this really just needs to be a place for us to sleep, use the bathroom, shower. We dont need any of the 12v stuff, propane, water holding tanks, etc. We require running water for the kitchen so we cant setup anywhere without it. We have diesel generators (22kW, and two 12kW) on the each of the other trailers and we just hook up the camper to one of them.

Some of the things we would need are:

Ability to be able to pull with a full size half ton truck. We would use one of our personal trucks so we dont have to buy another big truck.
1 slide to give us a little more room
Room for 2 sets of bunk beds
Water heater, we are fine with a tankless electric since we have more than enough power.
AC is a must after spending a day in the mobile kitchen where temps can get to 125* for 8 hours.

Has anyone done anything like this and does anyone know what problems we might run into?

Thanks for any advice.
 
I would investigate a utility box trailer, toyhauler, or possibly a horse trailer that includes basic living quarters. The living quarters would likely encompass what is needed for shower, toilet, hot water, electric power, and a/c. The rest of the open space could have bunks installed. There are quite a few companies that build such trailers and customize as needed, but they aren't all that cheap. Here's one. And another.

Don't forget that the staff probably needs some storage space for clothing and personal stuff, plenty of outlets for phone chargers and maybe a radio or small tv, a place to sit once in awhile (maybe just outdoor folding chairs). Overhead storage bins might be valuable.

Any chance that co-ed quarters might be in the future?
 
I looked at some enclosed trailers but think having a slide will give us more room. I have seen some used campers for $6-$10k and that would be ok. The less money we spend on the camper is more money we can use to feed people in need. We exist completely from donations, so we want to be good stewards of that money.

You mentioned storage space (for clothes and stuff) and that definitely is something we will need to have. A lot of campers in that lower price range will have some issues but as long as it is structurally ok, especially a good roof, with a bathroom and AC we can deal with the rest. Many campers will have a larger bed in one end and that might be what we strip out and make the sitting area into. Then if we remove the range, sink, counters we could get a set of bunk beds in there.

I appreciate your reply especially about the extra things we need to consider, that is exactly the type of info I was hoping for.
 

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