Biscuits and gravy fundraiser in Ainsworth this weekend

AINSWORTH — The breakfast fundraiser is a common sight for area fire departments this time of year, feeding visitors with staples affordable, bulk-producible staples pancakes and sausage. The Ainsworth fire department, however, does things a little differently.

The group’s fundraiser — Sunday, March 13 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Ainsworth fire station — hands out take-home biscuits and gravy meals in their drive-through-only free will fundraiser.

“Everybody kind of does their pancake and sausage breakfast, we used to do one in the past,” Ainsworth Fire Chief Waylon Schultz said. “We don’t really have all the equipment to do all the pancakes, we had to rent the griddles … we can make biscuits and gravy pretty easy in the roasters that we already have. It’s not too expensive for us to make and everybody enjoys it.”

Schultz said the drive-through-only method was first attempted last year, but had so many upsides that the department decided to do it again.

“Because of the pandemic, last year we did our biscuits and gravy breakfast (and) it just worked so well to do drive through that we decided to do it that way again,” he said. “It’s easier for people to get their breakfast, take it home and enjoy it. They don’t have to get up early in the morning and get dressed to go out into public … there’s less cleanup on our end and it flowed really well.”

The fundraiser benefits the Ainsworth Volunteer Firefighter Association, the nonprofit group that buys the department’s equipment.

Right now, the top of the department’s wish list is a UTV for grass fires and search and rescue calls, as well as a trailer to haul it. The department also plans to spend money on air compressor equipment in the near future. Schultz said the fundraiser was a great way to help pay those bills.

“Last year we made a couple thousand dollars off of it,” Schultz said. “It’s not a huge amount of money, but anything we can raise goes a long ways to help us purchase the equipment that we need.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com