FFA students at Lone Jack High School have dominated the annual Western Farm Show “Border War” Food Drive in recent years, and this year’s event was no exception. For the seventh time in the last eight years, the chapter collected and delivered the most non-perishable food items – 504 in all – to the event, held recently at the American Royal in Kansas City.
Representatives of the Western Farm Show visited the high school Monday, April 1, to present the students with a $500 check for their achievement. Lone Jack FFA advisor, Dusty Davidson, accepted the prize on behalf of the chapter.
“On behalf of the members of the Lone Jack FFA Chapter, we would like to thank the Western Farm Show for their continued support and sponsorship of the “Border War” food drive,” said Davidson. “While the prize money is nice, it is even better that this opportunity exists for FFA members from around the greater Kansas City area to help those who are afflicted by food insecurity.”
The Lone Jack chapter was among more than 3,500 FFA students from Missouri and Kansas who participated in this year’s food drive by collecting an impressive 3,111 food items. The food was donated to the Harvesters – The Community Food Network, a Kansas City-based regional food bank that serves a 26-county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas.
In the eight years the Western Farm Show food drive has been conducted, nearly 34,000 pounds of food have been delivered to Harvesters, which provided more than 28,000 meals for those facing food insecurity. “We’re so grateful to these FFA students and the Western Farm Show, and appreciative of their continuing commitment,” said Gene Hallinan, communications manager for Harvesters.
“FFA Day is always one of the highlights of the Western Farm Show,” said show manager Ken Dean. “Lone Jack FFA, along with all of the other participating students, are to be commended for the great leadership and commitment they demonstrated to help in the fight against hunger.”
In addition to the food drive, FFA students had the opportunity to attend educational seminars and learn about career opportunities in agriculture during FFA Day at the show, on Friday, Feb. 22.
Produced by the Western Equipment Dealers Association, the annual Western Farm Show features over 500 exhibitors and more than 400,000 square feet of floor space showcasing one of the largest indoor displays of farm equipment and other agricultural products in the Midwest. Other attractions include the Low-Stress Livestock Handling Demonstration, the Health & Safety Roundup and Family Living Center.
To learn more, visit WesternFarmShow.com or Facebook at Facebook.com/WesternFarmShow and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/WesternFarmShow.
