Friday, March 29, 2024

Triton FFA fundraiser stocks food shelf

In the last four years, the number of families accessing the SEMCAC Food Shelf has doubled, Triton High School FFA Advisor Robert Ickler said. The students involved in FFA are working to guarantee that the hundreds of families accessing this food shelf are able to have food to eat. 

For their annual fundraiser, the Triton FFA does not participate in a traditional fundraiser. 

“The students go around, typically the in end of October,” Ickler said. “They go to area businesses here in the Triton school district and the farming community, and they ask for donations of corn or soybeans to go and sell or a cash donation or check.”

This money, which is the only fundraiser conducted by the students during the school year funds a number of FFA activities for the students. 

“The donations are what pay for all of our expenses for the year,” Ickler said. “It helps to pay for kids’ membership dues, kids’ contest fees, going to convention, transportation costs, scholarships and that kind of thing.” 

But they also take a fraction of those funds to give back to the community. $1,000 dollars from the FFA and an additional $100 from Sunshine Foods in Dodge Center are used for students to purchase food to take to the SEMCAC Food Shelf in Kasson. 

“We’re going to take that over to the food shelf in Kasson, unload it and talk about what their need is right now,” Ickler said. “Like how many families are coming through and how many pounds they’re using.”

This discussion of the local use of the food brings the meaning closer to home for many of the students. 

“It helps us know we’re helping someone in the area,” Triton FFA Student Sam Newman said.

The students take a school bus to Sunshine Foods, and they split up into teams. Each team has between $100 and $150 dollars to spend. While the students are helping people in the area, it is also teaching them an important lesson. 

“Part of this is that students don’t get to make purchasing decisions, and I want them to see how quickly $100 worth goes on groceries and what quantity they can or can’t buy with that,” Ickler said. 

Students, such as Abrielle Robinson, noted that it does help to emphasize the importance of budgeting. 

While going through the store, students must pay careful attention to how much money they’re spending. 

“Then they’ve got to look at prices and try to figure out what’s a good deal,” Ickler said. “Buy things on sale. Buy off-brand or generic brand stuff, unless the name brand is cheaper.”

They also know that they must buy items that the food shelf needs. Ickler mentioned that the big item that the shelf currently needs is protein items, such as canned beans, canned fish or

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