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Serving Bureau County Since 1847
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
A call for volunteers Buda American Legion needs help with upcoming supper to honor veterans By Andrew Fisher news@bcrnews.com
BUDA — The Buda American Legion has issued a call more volunteers and support for its annual Armistice Supper scheduled for Nov. 2. “We need help from local residents in various capacities,” said Muriel Benson, Buda American Legion Veteran’s Supper coordinator, adding the event is shorthanded on volunteers to cook and serve the night of the dinner. “We’re anxious because we’re getting so close to the supper. “We are also in dire need of younger volunteers to help carry on the tradition,” Benson said. “The supper is a great opportunity for them to thank our vets and also help the community. I wish every youth could make the dinner one of their traditional ways to celebrate Thanksgiving.” Benson noted the current age of most of our volunteers is around 50. “We have to keep volunteerism alive especially among our youth,” Benson said. “Small communities can’t survive without all of our hands working together, especially strong ones. Turkeys are heavy in older hands.” Benson said the event needs a lot of helping hands because the turn out can be large. She said 250-plus veterans and locals were served at the dinner last year. Benson said that she started volunteering for the supper five years ago. “I wanted to do something to help our vets, especially those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.” Veterans from other wars in their 80s and 90 also attend the event. “It usually takes a couple hundred dollars to buy the turkeys and other food,
Food an issue with shutdown Government shutdown impacting pantries, the hungry By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — Heading into Week 3 of the government shutdown, the effects continue to trickle down and have been putting a strain on local food pantries. The strain comes at a critical time, as food pantry directors and volunteers begin preparing for the holidays.
On Monday, Mary Lanham of the Western Bureau County Food Pantry confirmed she is seeing a decrease in the amount of food coming in from the River Bend Foo Bank of Moline. While the food pantry normally has the option to choose from a list of about 20 to 25 items at the cost of 18 cents per pound, the list of items has decreased to about six items. “That is really hurting us,” she said.
While canned green beans are the food pantry’s staple item, it received zero cans in its last order from the food bank. “None of them came in with our last order ... Now we’re really scrambling,” she said. The effects of the government shutdown are very concerning to Lanham. “My biggest concern is if the government defaults. From what I understand if that occurs, we’re going to be in a mess,”
See Shutdown Page 4
The 10,000 Bushel Project Effort will help hungry children in the area, Romania By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
See Supper Page 4 Year 167 No. 124 One Section - 20 Pages
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BCR photo/Mike Vaughn
Reliving our nation’s past President Abraham Lincoln (center), also known as Max Daniels, marches with soldiers in City-County Park in Princeton during the 16th annual Shadows of the Blue and Gray Civil War re-enactment, held Saturday and Sunday. See more Shadows photos on Page 2.
PRINCETON — Another Child Foundation, the non-profit charity known to provide humanitarian aid to Romania’s at-risk children, has started-up a new project that will also benefit local children. The 10,000 Bushel Project is aimed to get local farmers involved to help support at-risk children throughout their community and the world. Local executive director for Another Child Foundation Tim Oloffson explained farmers can have the opportunity to donate a small percentage of their crops to help raise money to support local backpack programs in area schools, such as the Buddy Bag Programs. “We’re going to designate most of the money to stay local to the backpack programs,” Oloffson said. “The other portion will help support at-risk kids in Romania.” Another Child Foundation has partnered up with Marquis Grain, Michlig Grain and Patriot Renewable Fuels LLC to help out with the project. Farmers who are interested in making a donation can do so when they take their crops to local elevators. “Everything we do is to make a difference in the lives of kids,” Oloffson said. Last year, Another Child Foundation helped serve 51,000 meals to kids in Romania. Oloffson shared a statistic about the importance of children receiving proper nutrition before sending them to school. “If you have an average kid who goes into a classroom, they are going to retain 50 to 60 percent of what they learn. If a child goes into the school hungry, they are only going to retain 50 percent of what the average student learned. If they are staving, they are only going to retain 5 percent of what the average student learned,” he explained. “How are we ever going to train these kids to be on their own if they aren’t going to learn in schools just because they are hungry?”
See Project Page 4
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