The Tripp/Mellette County Farm Bureau was recently part of an effort to stock the pantry and refrigerators at the Ronald McDonald Houses in Sioux Falls with much-needed groceries and milk.
Thanks in part to a generous $500 donation from the Tripp/Mellette County Farm Bureau, the Ronald McDonald House near Sanford Hospital has a pantry stocked with almost $1,000 worth of groceries. In addition, this donation and others from County Farm Bureaus around the state have made it possible for fresh milk to be delivered weekly all year long to both Ronald McDonald Houses in Sioux Falls: the 21-room House near Sanford, and the 8-room House near Avera.
“In addition to the food, our donation was able to help out with the milk, too, which is one of the more needed things there at the Ronald McDonald House,” said Steve Waters, who farms near Carter and is President of the Tripp/Mellette County Farm Bureau.
According to the staff at the Ronald McDonald House, this amount of groceries will last between one and two months. The milk is also a great gift to them, because it is both nutritious and convenient for the families staying there. When dealing with the illness of a child, the last thing the families should worry about is needing to go out to purchase food or milk.
“I’d like to thank South Dakota Farm Bureau for all that they do for us,” said Kevin Miles, Executive Director of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Dakota. “In the past year we’ve had over 1,200 families come through our charity, and it’s through gifts like this that we’re able to provide for them.”
“This donation was a pretty good size for our budget, but we were glad to do it,” Waters commented. A portion of the Tripp/Mellette donation will also be directed to a similar food-for-families project South Dakota Farm Bureau will organize at the Rapid City Regional Hospital later this spring.
Waters added that the Tripp/Mellette County Farm Bureau may try to do a food-related project locally as well. “There are needs all over. We’ve been talking to our local food pantry, and we may try to do something there also.” He encourages any farm or ranch families who would like to be involved in Farm Bureau to speak with him or with Rob Koskan, Secretary of the County Farm Bureau board, who lives in Mellette County near Wood.
The grocery donation to the Ronald McDonald House is South Dakota Farm Bureau’s annual way to celebrate “Our Food Link,” a program of the American Farm Bureau Federation that recognizes the safe, abundant and affordable food provided by America’s farmers and ranchers.
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