Central Wisconsin Hunger Drive Delivers Semi Truck Load of Potatoes

A holiday food drive is distributing 150 turkeys and a semitrailer load of potatoes to hungry people in the Wausau area.

Twenty-one tons of potatoes were purchased at a bargain price from Bushmans’ Farm in Rosholt, according to Patrick Bradley, who chairs the Hunger Plus Committee of the Rotary Club of Wausau.

“There happens to be 8,400 five-pound bags of potatoes in a semi load, and if you do the math, that’s where we get the 21 tons,” said Bradley. “You know, I grew up in Antigo. That’s potato country, but I don’t think I’ve seen a whole semi full yet.”

The Rotary Club raised $11,000 for the United Way’s Hunger Coalition, and also purchased 150 Thanksgiving turkeys from local grocery stores. The people who received them were taught how to prepare them at University of Wisconsin-Extension cooking classes. They went home with the turkey, the fixings, and recipes.