New Fundraiser to support the Beef Industry
Greetings from IA!
With warmer weather fast approaching, the ISU VBMA in association with our ISU AABP chapter are proud to announce a brand new fundraiser aimed at directly impacting Iowa’s Beef Industry. Started by the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association in 2002 and continued by Dee Ann and Ted Paulsrud of Danbury, IA, “Beef’n Up the Troops” has sent 15 shipments of 75,000 Iowa-made beef sticks to U.S. Troops serving in Iraq over the past three years. The VBMA will be participating in this fundraiser by collecting donations and asking local businesses and fellow clubs to match the amount raised from the student body. The campaign will kick off this fall semester, so be looking for updates!
Sherry Johnson
ISU VBMA President
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Beef'n Up the Troops Going Regional
Hey there North Central!
Just wanted to update anyone who's interested in getting involved with "Beef'N Up the Troops," a fundraiser that raises money to send beef sticks to our troops overseas. I spoke with Dee Ann Paulsrud, the founder and organizer of this donation campaign, and she IS SO EXCITED to have veterinary schools, especially the VBMA getting involved!!
Here's the jist of how it all works: each beef stick costs around $1.00 to purchase, and Dee Ann tries to purchase at least 3,000 beef sticks before she sends them overseas via the 185th Air Refueling Wing of the Iowa Air National Guard, which flies them at no charge to the troops. The beef sticks themselves are processed out of Triple T Specialty Meats out of Ackley, IA. She accepts checks made out to: "Beef'n Up the Troops" or "The Beef Stick Lady." If you're looking for more details about Dee Ann, just google her, you'll find tons of articles! She has received numerous awards from various Cattlemen's Associations and Farm Bureau.
What we are doing at ISU: To raise money for this wonderful cause, our AABP chapter has agreed to put $1.00 of ticket sales to our spring "Testicle Festival" towards the beef sticks. We sold around 300 tickets last year, so that should get us a pretty good start. We are also going to be designing t-shirts to sell at the event. All proceeds from the t-shirts will be going toward beef sticks. VBMA is also asking other clubs at ISU to donate/match any amount raised, as well as getting local businesses and local bovine practitioners and producers involved.
How you can get involved: It's really up to each VBMA/AABP chapter, but feel free to get creative with this donation opportunity! Dee Ann can be contacted at: 712-883-2249. Her address is 4980 320th St. Danbury, IA, 51019-8505. Also, please let me know if there's any way I can help...I want to make this a huge success!
Sherry Johnson
ISU VBMA President
Sounds great!
I also agree that this could be great for a regional event! Post more details when you have them. I talked to our AABP student representative and she is interested but wants more details! :-)
Make it a North Central thing?
Do you remember when Lisa Thompson mentioned a regional get together of some sort, whether it be a fundraiser or some type of added effort? Is it possible that this could be one of those regional events? It's something for the troops overseas, so it sounds like a great idea to expand to other schools!
Beef'n Up the Troops going Regional!
I think that sounds like AN AWESOME idea...the more we can help out the troops, the better! If anyone else is interested, let me know!
Sherry