BISMARCK, N.D.–Credit unions in North and South Dakota that engaged in a friendly “border battle” food drive competition helped collect enough food and money to provide 66,007 meals.’
The effort culminated in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) championship game between the North Dakota State University Bison and the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits. The beneficiaries of the joint credit union effort are the North Dakota Great Plains Food Bank and Feeding South Dakota.
“With only two weeks to mobilize, credit unions collected enough food and cash donations to provide an astounding 66,007 meals for those in need,” the Dakota Credit Union Association said. Several business partners of Dakota Credit Union Association also made “generous donations” to the project, including Co-op Solutions, CUNA Strategic Services, and Millennium Corporate.
DakCU explained that for the “final score,” the state that collected the most contributions was South Dakota with 49,452 meals provided. Feeding South Dakota is also receiving an additional $1,500 donation from the Dakota Credit Union Foundation. North Dakota came in at 7,555 meals provided.
‘Bonus Kicker’
The “bonus kicker” was an additional $1,500 donation from Dakota Credit Union Foundation to the FCS game winner’s state food pantry, the association said.
The Dakota Credit Union Association said it quickly pivoted to support the food provider organizations when the two neighboring states advanced to the FCU final game.
“This was a rare opportunity where both of these top athletic programs in such close proximity, not to mention from the same conference, got to square off for the national championship,” said Jeff Olson, DakCU president/CEO. “Dakota credit unions have a long history of stepping up whenever and wherever we are needed, and in this case, we tied credit unions’ ‘people helping people’ philosophy to restock Dakotas’ food pantries while we cheered for our favorite team.”
‘Critical Timing’
The association added that the timing of this campaign was critical, noting that according to the food provider organizations in both states, there is an urgent need for both nonperishable items and money to support individuals and families who are experiencing hardships while at the same time, donations have decreased.
The “Border Battle” food drive winner was determined using the standard formula both food provider organizations use that equates to “meals provided.” For reference, each $1 donation = 3 meals; each 1.2 pounds of food = 1 meal.
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