FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 20, 2007
For more information contact:

Cindy Garretson-Weibel
Director, Agribusiness Division
Wyoming Business Council
Phone: 307.777.6589

Tom Lacock
Senior Marketing and Public Relations Specialist
The Wyoming Business Council
Phone: 307.777.2834

Wyoming Leadership and Education donates over
$2,500 to fight hunger in Wyoming

CHEYENNE – Members of the Wyoming Leadership Education and Development Class IX donated a check for $2,586, or enough for better than 12,930 pounds of food, to the Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies today during a ceremony at Needs, Inc. in Cheyenne.

The Wyoming LEAD program is designed for individuals involved in production agriculture or agribusiness, which strives to enhance participants’ broad-based knowledge, decision-making abilities and leadership skills for a sustainable agriculture in Wyoming. The program is administered by the Wyoming Business Council’s Agribusiness Division.

According to Cindy Garretson-Weibel, Wyoming Business Council Agribusiness Division Director, the class was required to complete a project which addressed a community need. This year, Curt Aschenbrenner of Cheyenne organized a 50/50 raffle in which Class IX participants sold $1 raffle tickets with the winner being entitled to half of all the revenue taken in by members of the class. The 50/50 raffle award winner, named at the graduation ceremony March 30 in Saratoga, was Martha Hellyer of Lander - who donated $439 back to the Food Bank.

The money went to the Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies, represented by Director Diane DeLozier. WFBR, an affiliate of America’s Second Harvest, the Nation’s Food Bank Network, has been distributing food and products to agencies serving Wyoming’s needy children, seniors, and families for 20 years from its headquarters in Denver.  According to the WFBR Web site, 53,000 people live in poverty in the areas of Wyoming which the food bank serves. Last year, WFBR distributed 2 million pounds of food and essential items in Wyoming. That equals 1.53 million meals or 4,200 meals each day.

“We can buy five pounds of food for every dollar that is donated to us,” DeLozier said. “The contribution from the LEAD class works out to nearly 13,000 pounds of food for people in Wyoming.”

According to Mary Love, Operations Department manager for Needs, Inc., an agency affiliated with the United Way which provides the basic needs of life to residents of Laramie County, WFBR provides the bulk of the food they hand out.

“We get the majority of our food from the food bank,” Love said. “It would be a lot tougher to get along if they didn’t come by every month.”

To donate time, food, or funds to the WFBR, contact Diane DeLozier at 307.265.2172 or toll-free 877.265.2172 or email ddelozier@foodbankrockies.org. For information or to donate to Needs, Inc., call 634.7147.

Currently, recruiting is underway for LEAD Class X, which will start in the fall of 2007. Up to 18 participants are selected after going through a process involving an application and interview with the selection committee. The application deadline for LEAD Class X is July 2007. Anyone interested should contact Kim Porter at 777.6319 or kim.porter@wybusiness.org.

The mission of the Wyoming Business Council is to facilitate the economic growth of Wyoming. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.wyomingbusiness.org.

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