The Wright County Farm Bureau partnered with county leaders, state legislators and the Wright County American Dairy Association to raise over $9,000 for three local food shelves at its Food Awareness event, held at Cub Foods in Buffalo on March 11.

The shopping spree-style event gave two teams 90 seconds to shop a selected aisle in the store, grabbing as much food as possible before time ran out. The groceries were then taken to the checkout line, where a winner was determined by both total dollars and total weight. 

The legislative team of Sen. Bruce Anderson (R-Buffalo), Rep. Joe McDonald (R-Delano), and Rep. Marion O’Neill (R-Buffalo) won the competition with a total of 741.08 pounds of food and $1,873.04 spent. 

The team of County Commissioners Mike Kaczmarek and Mary Wetter, and Adam Tabberman with Farm Bureau Financial Services finished the spree with a total of 525.44 pounds of food and $1,230.03 spent. 

Three area food shelves were the real winners, taking home the food collected in addition to monetary donations and a gift from Cub Foods. The combined $3,103.07 from the two shopping spree teams, along with a gift of $1,000 to each food shelf from the Wright County American Dairy Association and another $1,000 gift to each food shelf from the Wright County Breakfast on the Farm will go to support programming at the Buffalo Food Shelf, Hanover Area Food Shelf and Wright County Community Action organization.

This annual event is part of the Wright County Farm Bureau’s efforts to help raise awareness about food production in all aspects, connecting with consumers to understand where their food comes from.

“We are blessed in this country to have an abundant, safe food supply, yet we know there are people who do not know where their next meal will come from,” said Kevin Dahlman, Wright County Farm Bureau President. “This event helps to make a difference for the organizations in our county supporting those who need an extra hand.”