Cass County 4-H Clubs engaged in a friendly competition for a great cause during the recent Cass County Fair. Rising to a challenge from the County 4-H Youth Council, clubs decorated donation boxes which were placed on display in the Cass County Community Center during the Cass County Fair, from July 27-31, for club supporters to donate non-perishable foods, toiletries and other “high need” items. 13 clubs from across Cass County participated by decorating boxes. Challenge winners were decided based on number of items donated, with an added incentive from the Atlantic Hy Vee to match the donations collected by the winning club!

Items were tallied throughout the fair, with a total of 904 items being donated by the end of fair. The winning club was the Cowpokes 4-H Club with 182 items collected! After this donation was matched by Atlantic Hy Vee, the total amount collected was 1086 items. These donations were sorted according to needed items requested by pantries, and donated to the Atlantic Food Pantry, the Anita Food Pantry and the Lord’s Cupboard pantry in Griswold.

THANK YOU to all club members and community supporters who took part in this challenge!    (Press Release: ISU Extension/Cass County)

Members of the Cowpokes 4-H Club pose with some of the food they collected to win the 2017 Fair Food Pantry Challenge

Cass County 4-H Youth Council Members sorting some of the food donated during the Fair Food Pantry Challenge    

Full Table! Food collected by Cass County 4-H Clubs during the Fair Food Pantry Challenge is ready to be sorted and distributed to local food pantries.