Sinclair Tractor raises big money for food banks

MT. PLEASANT — Sinclair Tractor celebrated its 25-year anniversary with a massive fundraising event and party at Old Threshers on Saturday, June 24. The business leveraged the event to gather freewill donations for food banks in the state, raising over $600,000 and counting as of Tuesday morning.

CEO Bob Sinclair said over 10,000 customers showed up throughout the day, taking part in the food, ag displays and inflatable play area for kids.

“We’ve always supported food banks, and what better way to do that than to bring our communities, to bring our families, to bring our customers all together and raise a bunch of money,” he said. “There’s a bunch of free will donations, and we went to all of our suppliers and we asked them for support … and through that, we had some great big checks.”

While the business had set a goal of raising $1 million, Sinclair said he was already pleased with the $500,000 gathered before festivities began on Saturday.

“Even if we don’t hit it, when you shoot for the stars, and you hit the moon, it’s pretty exciting to hit the moon,” he said.

Asked why the company chose food bank support from any number of charitable causes, Sinclair said the need right now was dire.

“You have to pick something, you can’t do everything,” he said. “And food banks are an important part. Our communities are hurting right now. With the economy and inflation and interest rates. There’s stuff we can do to help, and that’s what we want to do … I’m pretty proud of this organization coming together for this.”

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The company still is accepting donations to the food bank fundraising initiative. Sinclair said checks written to the Iowa Food Bank Association could be mailed to P.O. Box 265 in Sigourney, Iowa.

Food Bank of Iowa President and CEO of Michelle Book attended the event, representing one of five such organizations receiving the donations. She said food banks, with bulk-buying power, could acquire roughly two and a half meals per dollar spent. Those proceeds will run though a whopping 352 local food pantries in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois, according to a company news release.

That math makes Sinclair’s fundraising a major boost in the fight against hunger. She said several counties in Sinclair’s service region had higher than average poverty rates, and fewer than average community resources.

“Food insecurity is a huge problem in Iowa,” she said. “During COVID, people were getting some support through food stamps, SNAP benefits, maximum unemployment, and then stimulus checks. All that went away about a year ago, and the need doubled, tripled — down here in Southeast Iowa — the need quadrupled. What we’re seeing more and more of (is) young families who have jobs, they’re not making enough money to put food on the table. The other demographic is people who live on fixed incomes.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com