Two Pallets of Milk Donated!

 
If you don't ask the question, you won't get the answer. That's my philosophy about wanting more information, and I'm sure glad I asked the question! My question was, "Tell me about The Giving Cow program."

Let me explain. Last month I was invited to speak at the corporate offices of Cub Foods at a meeting for their Dairy Department managers. Why me? Well, who better to talk about where dairy begins than a dairy farmer? I shared information about my family farm, what we do, and also our community involvement. The milk from our farm is sold to DFA (Dairy Farmers of America) who own Kemps so I ended with this quote from the Kemps website which perfectly sums up our goal here at Bremer Farms.

"... we've always been there for each other. It's in our DNA - work hard, love your family and take care of your neighbors. It's a commitment to do the right thing. It's a way of life we live by every day supporting local programs that nourish families, build communities, and work to leave our world in better shape than we found it."

So this led me to my question, "What can we do for the community and what is The Giving Cow program all about?" And here is Kemps answer- "Milk is one of the most requested items from food shelves, but unfortunately, it's rarely donated. So we've created Kemps Giving Cow Milk. Every time you buy Kemps milk, we donate Giving Cow milk to kids-in-need."

A week later I received a phone call from Christina of Kemps announcing that Kemps and Cub Foods would like to donate TWO PALLETS of milk to our local food shelf, Hastings Family Service. That's over 6,000 cartons of milk! I'll admit it, I was so excited that I cried while on the phone.

One of two pallets of Giving Cow milk!

So last week representatives from Kemps, Cub Foods, and myself, presented the milk to Hastings Family Service.

Amy (HFS), Christina (Kemps), Jayme (Kemps), Tara (Cub Foods), Janet (Bremer Farms), Amy and Deana (HFS)

As  a DFA/Kemps dairy farmer I am proud to say that our farm is a part of making this donation happen. Bremer Farms appreciates the support that Kemps and Cub Foods gives to communities like ours.

The Giving Cow milk is ultra pasteurized which means it is shelf stable and requires no refrigeration. This is important to food pantries which typically do not have adequate refrigeration space.

Santa On The Farm 2017

We at Bremer farms are bustling about as fast as Santa's Elves right now. While the Elves are building toys at the North Pole, we are creating a Christmas extravaganza on the farm, and we hope you will come for a visit. Santa and the lovely Mrs. Claus are taking time away from their busy schedule to be here to greet you!

Here's a sneak peek-

A few of our gingerbread houses.

There may not be gingerbread samples, but there will be goodie bags for the kids, and candy canes for all! We will also be collecting food donations for Hastings Family Service and cash donations for the Great American Milk Drive. On average, people served by food banks receive the equivalent of less than 1 gallon of milk per person per year.

Snoopy is helping too!

There will be thousands of lights, characters you will recognize, and be sure to tune your car radio to 88.9FM to watch the light show synced to music. This year's show features "The Christmas Without A Santa Claus."

We hope you can come!

Paying To Pull

Teamwork, it's the name of the game. Each Spring the Middle School in our town collects money to support Hastings Family Service. The kids bring in their own change and ask family and friends to donate, all in the name of helping others. The collection goes to help replenish the food shelf and provide clothing and school supplies to folks in need. This year a total of $10,337 was collected in only five days!

The teamwork doesn't end when the last coin is counted however. The two classes in each grade with the largest collection totals win the honor of competing in a tug-of-war. Each class picks a team name and decorates T-shirts to show their team spirit. 

Even the teachers join in the fun. My daughter Sara cheered on her 8th grade team, "the Braminators" in full cow gear, but "Wald's Warriors" took the victory.

But here comes what I thought was the best part of the event, (besides the huge donation total, of course) the classes that didn't win were just fine with the outcome. It didn't seem to matter who was the victor, what mattered was they were having a great time, and all in the name of a good cause...helping others. Gotta love teamwork!