NEWS RELEASE 10-10-20
Successful Seward Rotary Club Grocery Grab Funds Dedicated to Furnishing Blue River Pet Rescue Examine Room
Lacey Wallace of Seward held the winning raffle ticket in the recent Seward Rotary Club Grocery Grab, sponsored by the Seward Rotary Club to assist the Blue Rive Pet Rescue Center.  The Grocery Grab was held at the Seward Pac and Save Grocery Store on October 10, 2020 at 1:00 pm, with store owner Paul Mueller drawing the winning ticket.  In the two minute shopping spree, she collected $450.61 worth of groceries and they were paid for by the Rotary Club’s Raffle fund.  Timer for the event was Rotarian Zane Francesato, umpires for the draw were Rotarians Jon and Bonnie Kruse, Greg Zabka, Shelly Nitz, Brad Perdue, and Dan Greiner, along with emcee -Rotarian Clark Kolterman.
 
There were eight finalists drawn at the Oct. 7th Seward Rotary Club meeting and they were invited to be part of the Grocery Grab celebration at Pac and Save on Oct. 14th, where there would be one winner and the consolation winners each received a $25 gift card at Pac and Save.  The finalists included Josh Wiesen of Staplehurst, Melissa Luebbe of Goehner, The St. John Christ Cupboard in Seward, Blue Valley Community Action Pantry, Marla Buambach, and Macy Perdue. Volunteer runners for Blue valley Community Action Pantry was Zane Francesato, and for Christ Cupboard was Jen Bockelman. It should be noted that many of the Rotarians bought their raffle tickets and placed the name of local food pantries such as St. John Lutheran Church’s Christ Cupboard, Food Net or Blue Valley Community Action Pantry- in promotion of the Rotary motto “Service Above Self.”
 
“The Rotary Club sold almost $4000 dollars’ worth of raffle tickets and as a result, after expenses we are able to add a Rotary District Grant of $1500 and have enough funds to assist in furnishing the exam room at the Seward Blue River Pet Rescue,” stated Rotary President Brady Johnson.  “We want to thank everyone involved with this process and are so happy for the Wallace family and their lucky ticket.   The annual Rotary Club Grocery Grab funds have been designated to many wonderful community efforts in the past, such as the William Seward Statue park at the Courthouse lawn, the Armory Playground Project-the Helicopter, the Seward Youth Center, The CASA downtown offices, The Seward Senior Center and others.”
 
“We really want to thank the many members of the Seward Rotary Club who purchased their packet of raffle tickets and then donated them,” commented Dr. Ron Wallman-Grocery Grab Co-Chair.  “This is really a project with many “winners” and our local Rotary Club has been very supportive of the project with almost 70 percent of the membership involved with the fundraising effort!  Thanks to all who purchased Grocery Grab tickets and special thanks to our Rotary District 5650, who matched the funds up to $1500. 
 
The annual Seward Rotary Club’s “Grocery Grab” fundraiser is dedicated to assist in the furnishing of the Blue Rive Pet Rescue Examination Room for the 2020-2021 Club year.  The annual event is a raffle, where one winning ticket is selected to shop for two minutes at Pac and Save in Seward and collect all of the groceries they are able to collect (two of each item) and put them in a grocery cart.  This project is one that was selected for a Rotary Club District 5650 Matching Funds Grant for up to $1500. 
 
The Grocery Grab was “Kicked off” on Wed. September 1, 2020 at the Seward Rotary Club meeting with ticket #1 being sold to “Nicodemus,” the Comfort Dog affiliated with the Rock Church.  Project Co-Chair-Dr. Ron Wallman sold Nicodemus the first ticket at the Rotary meeting.