 Young Leaders, farmers
35 years of age and younger, donated $1,553
from the "Grain for Groceries" program conducted during the recent
harvest. Farmers in the county can participate by signing up at
their grain elevator and designating the number of bushels they wish
to donate. The selling price for those bushels is the amount set
aside for donation to Grain for Groceries. Elevators with
participating farmers send a collective check from the sale of the
total number of bushels to Young Farmers for donation to the local
food pantry.Young Leaders committee chairman Allen Sasse
presented Norm Newhouse with the donation check on Tuesday morning.
"I'd like to thank everyone in the county who donated to the
Grain for Groceries program and thank the elevators for the extra
work it took in order to process the donations," said Sasse.
"This was the first year we promoted the program, and we learned
a few things this year that will help us next year," he continued.
"Maybe the food pantry representatives would meet with us for some
input."
"We started late this year," said Jim Drew, Logan County Farm
Bureau director. "If we had notified everyone sooner, there would
have been more participation in the Grain for Groceries program.
When we got things going, most had already started harvesting, and
some were almost done. Next year we'll send out postcards early to
notify farmers of the program, and they'll know about it when they
begin harvest."
The second committee to assist the food pantry was the Farm
Bureau's Women's Committee. The group collected a combination of
food and monetary donations, which Sasse also presented to Newhouse.
[to top of second column] |
"We currently assist 550 families every month," Newhouse told
Sasse and Drew. "That's about 1,800 people total.
"This is a good county to live in. People look out for each other
and take care of others. All the churches donate, too.
"Recently the employees from Family Video wanted to donate, but
their corporate office said they should also volunteer at the
pantry. Several of them came one day to help sort food and stock
shelves. They were interested to know more about what is here and
where the donations go. It was a good experience for them."
"People are giving very generously this year," Newhouse said.
"After the holidays donations fall back. But somebody always steps
up and brings in a big donation just when we need it."
[By MARLA BLAIR]
 |
