(By Eileen Hotho) On hand for the gift transfer of a new Farm to Family pickup truck courtesy of West Herr Cares in partnership with the Scott Bieler Family Foundation to the Rotary Club of Hamburg Foundation were from left: Rotarian Tom Johnston, Scott Bieler, President and CEO of West Herr Automotive Group, Rotarian Eileen Hotho, Brad Hafner, Chairman of West Herr Automotive Group and Rotarians John Nowak and Earl Knauss.
West Herr Cares, in partnership with the Scott Bieler Family Foundation turned over the keys to a 2023 white Chevrolet Silverado pickup work truck to the Rotary Club of Hamburg Foundation Friday, July 5 at West Herr Ford, 5025 Camp Road in Hamburg. The donation was made to the Rotary Club in support of its Farm to Family vegetable distribution program which serves thousands of Western New York residents challenged by food insecurity throughout the growing season.
The Rotary Club of Hamburg Farm to Family Program currently distributes fresh produce to about 25 nonprofit food pantries, distribution centers and shelters from May through December, giving away 125,500 pounds of free vegetables in 2023. Bieler heard of the program and was intrigued and felt compelled to assist the Rotary Club and local farmers in bringing the fresh produce to those in need
“We are thrilled to support the Rotary Club of Hamburg Foundation’s vital Farm to Family Food donation program,” said Scott Bieler, president and CEO of West Herr Automotive Group. “By providing this vehicle, we hope to enhance their ability to transport and distribute fresh food to those who need it most in our local community, ensuring that no family goes hungry.” The donated vehicle, a former rental with a mileage of 9,000 was a welcome gift to the Farm to Family Program which requires a dependable vehicle six days a week to drive the produce to far flung locations.
The vegetables are delivered by an all-volunteer workforce to sites in Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Hamburg, Springville and points between. Deliveries were made in a truck with 170,000 miles that has required more and more maintenance to keep it on the road. A personally owned backup vehicle has over 212,000 miles on it, said Rotarian Tom Johnston, a member of the Farm to Family Finance Committee. “Scott Biehler and Rotary Club of Hamburg both believe in the motto Service above Self,” said Johnston. “He was our sunshine in providing a truck for us to deliver fresh vegetables from our Eden farmers to families in need. By the end of this year, Rotary will have delivered over 900,000 pounds at no charge to these families.”
At age 92, Rotarian Earl Knauss eschews retirement leisure activities in favor of continuing as the leader the dynamic program. The 50-year member of the Rotary Club founded the vegetable distribution operation in 2007 when he was dismayed to discover that edible but blemished vegetables were routinely destroyed if their appearance made them unmarketable to farms. After receiving a gift of bushels of funny looking red peppers and finding out they and many others had been destined for the waste heap, he approached farmer Bill Zittel for more produce to share with those in need. “Those peppers were perfect except for their shape,” Knauss recalls. Zittel, of the Amos Zittel & Sons Farms agreed to the request and the early modest effort grew to include contributions from W.D. Henry & Sons and Henry W. Agle & Sons farms.
From its humble beginnings of bushels of produce, the program expanded in donations and in recipients of the largesse under the direction of Knauss and to ensure that the free food distribution would endure into the future, he petitioned his club to take it over and keep it going. The Rotary Club of Hamburg in 2018 officially adopted the Farm to Family Program and has been managing it with gusto since then under its umbrella. Knauss is gratified to have the support of the Rotary Club and the benevolence of the West Herr Cares and Bieler Family Foundations to keep the production rolling.