On Saturday, Oct. 11 R.D. Offutt Company joined forces with the Park Rapids High School boys and girls basketball teams to raise over $4,000 at the 2014 Potato Harvest Celebration. Over 200 community members attended in support of the event held at the local high school.
Each attendee was treated to free bratwursts and French fries, cooked and served by basketball team players and coaches. They also took home a free ten pound bag of potatoes, compliments of R.D. Offutt Company.
Local Park Rapids RDO Farm Manager and Assistant Basketball Coach Joel Steffel led the event.
“There has always been a kind of informal celebration when we finish harvest each year. This year R.D. Offutt Company wanted to make it official and do something special for the Park Rapids community; the high school basketball teams seemed the perfect recipient,” Steffel said.
High school sports teams rely heavily on fundraising to meet team expenses, including travel, equipment, and coaches.
“We were really pleased with the great turnout for a first time event,” said Park Rapids High School Teacher and Head Basketball Coach Matt Brandt. “Between the generous contribution from R.D. Offutt Company and the community donations, we have more than $4,000 to help this season’s teams.”
R.D. Offutt Company set aside about 25,000 pounds of fresh potatoes for the event. The leftover potatoes are being stored for the local food shelf for distribution to those in need.
Founded and led by a Minnesota native, R.D. Offutt Company is a six-generation, family-owned and operated potato farm celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2014. R.D. Offutt Company continues to seek out innovative, better ways to produce potatoes while maintaining its commitment to the communities in which it resides and the land on which the company was built.
Today, R.D. Offutt Company has grown to include farming operations that produce more than 60,000 acres of potatoes each year and it remains a family owned and operated business.
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