A US-based not-for profit training organisation has trained 410 people in forklift operations over five years and is now seeking a second machine for instructional purposes.

Of those trained, 360 people have been certified as forklift operators with employment potential.

Power Connection, in Bolingbrook, Illinois, limits its monthly forklift classes to six participants.

A volunteer trainer starts a class on a Friday from 5pm to 8pm. Passing a written test is a prerequisite to access the rest of the program the following week.

From Monday to Thursday, classes take place from 4pm to 6.30pm or 6.30pm to 9pm. On Friday morning, students take a final written test. Those who pass proceed to a hands-on test on the organisation's 1998 Toyota forklift.

Successful candidates pick up their licences and certificates the following Monday afternoon.

Power Connection charges a USD30 non-refundable registration fee and a USD30 fuel charge.

Power Connection's executive director Jerry Basel took the course and is a certified forklift operator.

"We work with temp agencies" for placement, he says. "I know [home improvement specialty retailer] Home Depot has some of the forklift drivers."

In 2005, Power Connection bought the three-stage-mast, liquid-propane-powered forklift from Atlas Toyota Material Handling, of Schiller Park, Illinois. A commercial mechanic handles ongoing preventive maintenance and repair work.

The forklift's 3,450lb (1,553kg) lifting capacity is important in moving pallets of food or clothing in Power Connection's 4,500sqft (405sqm) warehouse.

Basel says the forklift was idle during certain hours and, in 2006, he established the training program as a way to broaden use of the equipment and expand services to Power Connection's target population of needy people.

Now, the organisation could use another machine. "We want a stand-up [counterbalanced forklift] so we can also train on it," Basel says.

Vogel Safety and Risk Inc, then in Bolingbrook, established Power Connection's original program for classroom and hands-on forklift training. "We got them going," says founder Steve Vogel.

Vogel says he helped put together the instruction program while he was with an operation of Miami, Florida-based publicly traded Ryder System Inc, a provider of transport, logistics and supply chain management services. Subsequently, Vogel established his own business, operated in Bolingbrook and later relocated to Centennial, Colorado, southeast of Denver.

The volunteer forklift instructors at Power Connection "still use Ryder videos, but we have enhanced the handout materials", Vogel says.

Basel, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduated in 1976 from Central Bible College, in Springfield, Missouri, with a bachelor of arts in Bible and theology with minors in psychology and history.

Basel established faith-based Power Connection in August 2003 after observing a long line of people needing continual assistance. At the time, Basel was assistant pastor at the Living Water Community Church in Bolingbrook with duties including benevolence.

Power Connection uses "power" as an acronym for Providing Opportunities for Work, Education and Retraining. It provides food and clothing to about 2,000 people monthly and is networked into the community through multiple avenues, including corporations.

In addition to the forklift training program, Power Connection instructional offerings include resume writing, interview techniques, computer skills, financial budgeting, personal appearance, speech communication and general education development instruction.