Farm Bureau refocuses shopping adventure to serve single mothers in need
WATERLOO | In years past, the Black Hawk County Farm Bureau women's committee sponsored zany shopping sprees. Participants scrambled to dump as many items as possible into carts while racing through the aisles of a grocery store.
The spirited fun -- meant to highlight National Agriculture Day and America's affordable food supply -- would benefit a local charity.
Tuesday, the group charted a more personal course, carefully picking out groceries at Hy-Vee on Ansborough Avenue. The goods will go to 10 women living at House of Hope. Budgets ranged from $50 to $80 depending on how many children were in the family.
"This is taking a little more thought on the part of our ladies -- and it doesn't make such a mess in the store," said Virginia Sage, president of the county chapter.
Wilma Olson, one of the shoppers, explained the purpose behind the effort.
"The Farm Bureau is always trying to promote how food is such a bargain," she said. "There are also so many people in this world who don't get good, nutritious fruit and vegetables and meats."
Americans, on average, spend no more than 12 percent of their income on food. In other countries around the world, the figure can be three or four times that amount.
The average Iowa farmer feeds 155 people, according to the Iowa Farm Bureau. The figure in 1970 was 73. Beyond that, agriculture and related industries contribute $72 billion to the state's economy.
At the same time, not everyone shares equally in the bountiful harvests, and Shirley Mae Patchin suggested reaching out to the women at House of Hope. The nonprofit organization is a faith-based, interdenominational effort providing housing for single mothers. Women live at House of Hope for up to two years as they make the transition to independence and self-sufficiency.
Patchin liked he idea of making the Farm Bureau shopping day more personal, and her colleagues agreed. The Farm Bureau ladies knew their beneficiaries by first name only and had just a bare amount of information about their children.
"We don't know them," Patchin said.
Each House resident will receive a basic bundle of goods, including a whole chicken, bread, milk, eggs, cheese and hamburger. Shoppers did accept special requests. One woman asked for catfish or sausage; another hoped for ice cream.
The shoppers went to work at about 10 a.m., lists, budgets and calculators in hand.?Marilyn Wieman used one cart to gather?two bundles.
Wieman knew one of her House mothers had a newborn. The other is raising two children.
"It's sort of fun ... and it makes me feel good to do something for somebody else -- even though I'm getting a little confused," she said while organizing her cart.
Toward the end of the adventure, Patchin, who kept a running total, was at $38 after securing the basic goods. She intended to retrace her steps at Hy-Vee for a few treats.
"I'm going to run it all the way up to $50. She's got one child, so maybe I'll get a half gallon of ice cream," Patchin said.
Sage and the other Farm Bureau members carefully cruising the aisles noted the tighter focus of this year's initiative.
"It's maybe not going to reach as many people, but these women are in transition, going to school or working and raising children," Sage said. "If we can help them with their food budgets, that's one better."
http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/farm-bureau-refocuses-shopping-adventure-to-serve-single-mothers -in/article_5d5dce7b-6ab4-5549-b531-d193687ab9d2.html