This was the message provided at halftime on January 3rd, 2025 during the A-P vs GC boys varsity basketball game:

For the past four weeks, the Grundy Center and Aplington-Parkersburg FFA Chapters have been collecting dry goods items for their local food pantries. 

We are still in the holiday season. Times are tough, and money is tight. For some in our communities… they may have needed to make difficult decisions between gifts for their children and necessary supplies for their families. Our FFA chapters see those who struggle… and want to live out the motto of our organizations. “Living to Serve” means something to FFA members, and by raising goods for the people of our community we get to live out that motto. 

On the tables in the commons, you can see the combined efforts of both FFA chapters in collecting paper towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes/ toothpaste, razors, shampoo’s, soaps, feminine hygiene products, and much, much more! 

The idea is that we get to “compete” against each other to find a winner of who brought the most items. Thank you to everyone who donated items, your contributions help so many. That being said, the total items collected by the two FFA chapters are:

Grundy Center: 200

A-P: 418

The winner is Aplington-Parkersburg FFA. Congratulations! 

Now, we may have announced the winner of this “contest”. However, this is part of the disguise for the greater good - as we hope that in the end, it is our families and community members who truly win by getting the necessary items that may otherwise not come across at our respective food pantries.

We wish the best of luck to the varsity boys in the second half, may the best team win! Once again, thank you to everyone who has donated to the Grundy Center vs Aplington-Parkersburg FFA Dry Goods Drive!