This Fall’s Grocery Grab fundraiser was a joint effort between the Excelsior Springs Rotary and Lawson Rotary, whose proceeds are used for community projects. This is the first time that the groups have partnered in doing a fundraiser, and the result has been fruitful, with a total of 321 tickets sold at $10 each, gathering $3,210 between the two.
The way it works is that a week before the event Rotarians draw five raffle tickets (printing donated by Pittman Printing, Liberty). Those chosen meet at McKeever’s Price Chopper in Excelsior Springs at 9:00am for another drawing. Four winners will walk away with gift baskets that are at the expense of the Rotarians, but one winner gets the opportunity to run the grocery store for 5 minutes, filling their carts with as many groceries as they can.
This year those chosen and winning baskets were Mike Edwards, Cheryl Mynatt, Cheryl Watson, and Kathy Roberts. It was lucky winner Jeremy Powell who was chosen to run the store! With parents and kiddos in tow, Jeremy looked nervous before beginning his run. With a countdown start, Jeremy headed to the meat department first thing. There he took advantage of the cuts of meat, though there is a limit on how many he could get of each one.
With a young family, his next stop was the baby aisle, where he packed the rest of the cart with diapers, wipes, and formula. With a quick trip back to the front of the store for a cart, he then headed to the coffee aisle and started collecting items that you would see on a grocery list including coffee beans, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, cases of pop and one package of donuts. The total balance, to be paid by the Rotarians, was $889.85, with a total of 43 items.
You can find the Excelsior Springs Rotary at the Excelsior Springs High School football games this season with a 50/50 Raffle. Partnering with the different student activity groups, Rotary gives half of the collection to the raffle winner, then half of the profit with the school group. This past week they helped Lewis Elementary PALS raised $281. Watch for them again on Friday, September 15, 2023 at Tiger Stadium.
An earlier version of this story was published August 27, 2023, but has been updated to reflect more current information.
If you appreciate the value our local journalism brings to the community, please consider making a recurring contribution to the Excelsior Citizen!
