Despite a rainy day, Montgomery County Farm Bureau (MCFB) members followed through with their plans to get nutritious food in the hands of the community through two special events. First, by way of the Farmers to Families Food Box initiative, which began thanks to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). The other was through the purchase of a local steer which was processed into hamburger and given to the local food bank coalition.

MCFB President Byron Amburgey said the two initiatives truly became community events.

“In getting a group of volunteers from here in the county to come together to help with all the distribution, it really became a community project,” he said. “We consider them all family and friends, and they really helped make this happen. We can’t thank them enough for giving their time to help those in need. It really is a time for giving back to the community.”

Amburgey’s wife Crystal, a MCFB Insurance agent, helped to coordinate the logistics of the projects at the local level. She said with the help of the Kentucky Dairy Development Council (KDDC), the non-profit agency that helped coordinate CFAP food giveaways across the state, the food distribution plan came together.

“I contacted KDDC in July and asked if we could be put on the list and that we would love to have this project come to Montgomery County,” Crystal said. “When the call came saying they had a truck available, we got our volunteers together and got the facility secured. We have been so glad to do this and to be able to provide for the community.”

She added that the beef giveaway, while different from the Food Box project, had the same intentions, getting good food out to those in need.

“Our local 4-H and FFA students have livestock projects during the year, and they were not able to have their annual show and sale, as they normally do,” Crystal explained. “And since MCFB always donates to that, we decided to purchase a steer from one of the FFA students, have it processed into hamburger, and donate it to our local food pantry.”

During the Food Box giveaway, more than 1,200 packs of food were moved thanks to a large collection of volunteers.

“We had our local FFA students, our county extension agent, several local board members, and many other businesspeople from the community show up early to help,” Crystal said. “This was our first big event that we've done through our office in a while, and we wanted to do something to benefit the community. It's pretty exciting to see it all come together.”

Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation Executive Vice President Drew Graham and wife Lorra also showed up to lend their support during the Food Box giveaway. Graham said it is this type of local community activity that makes Farm Bureau so unique.

“While our organization is known as being a strong voice for agriculture, Farm Bureaus all across this state show up in big ways to help their communities with a variety of initiatives,” he said. “The food giveaway events in Montgomery County are great examples of how involved KFB is at the local level and the commitment these members have for their hometowns.”

Graham emphasized how dedicated MCFB members like Crystal and Byron Amburgey are in working with their community to make it better.

“The level of commitment our members have to causes like the events held in Montgomery County is remarkable,” he said. “It gives me a great sense of pride to belong to an organization that gives back so much to local communities across this state.”