Jefferson County Farm Bureau plans Grocery Grab for March 28

FAIRFIELD – Jefferson County Farm Bureau will host its second annual Grocery Grab later this month at Fairfield Hy-Vee, and there’s still time to enter a team.

The event is a fundraiser for The Lord’s Cupboard, and will test the speed and mental math of teams who try to grab an assortment of groceries in just five minutes. The team that gets as close to $100 in groceries without going over is the winner. Items in all the teams’ shopping carts will be purchased and donated to the food pantry.

Teams will check in at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, March 28, and the grocery grabbing will commence at 9 a.m. Jefferson County Farm Bureau President Jason Steele said they’re hoping to have six teams, and two of those spots are already filled. He said Farm Bureau asks that teams be two people, as a courtesy to Hy-Vee so the teams don’t clog the aisles.

“We want to thank Hy-Vee for working with their local Farm Bureau to allow this contest in the store, and to helping serve our community through The Lord’s Cupboard,” Steele said.

Steele said Farm Bureau used to do a grocery-related fundraiser called Cram the Cab where residents were invited to cram a tractor cab with donated items. Jefferson County Farm Bureau got the idea to do a Grocery Grab from other Farm Bureaus.

The only stipulations that Farm Bureau puts on its competitors in the Grocery Grab is that they stick to non-perishable items. He said last year’s winning team got within $5 of the $100 limit.

Jefferson County Farm Bureau chose to do the Grocery Grab in late March because it dovetails nicely with National Ag Week, which is March 16-22.

“We want to honor the industry that provides food, fuel and fiber,” Steele said. “Today, one farmer feeds 144 people, compared one farmer feeding 25 people in the 1960s.”

Those interested in registering a team for the Grocery Grab can email Jefferson.county@ifbf.org.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com