Our Turn to Give Back River Cities Harvest Beef Raffle

Our Turn to Give Back

River Cities Harvest Beef Raffle

Gwen Akers

The Ashland Beacon

River Cities Harvest has been making sure no one goes to bed hungry for many years, providing the people of Ashland and the surrounding community with the food and resources they need.

“We are a food redistribution center, and so that means we will pick up [food] from our retail locations like Kroger and Walmart, pick up from our restaurants like Gatti Land and pick up from [our] Dollar Generals. We do this Monday through Friday, and we bring [this food] back to River Cities,” explained Andrea Allen, Executive Director of River Cities Harvest.

Currently, River Cities Harvest partners with several local pantries in our area, expanding across Boyd, Greenup, and Lawrence Counties in Kentucky and Lawrence County, Ohio. The food gathered during the “food rescue” phase from local businesses then goes to these partner shelters, helping supplement the food in these pantries and freeing up resources and funding to help them achieve their individual missions. This process of picking up the food and bringing it to our local pantries helps get food out into the public quickly and alleviates some of the strain on our pantries—allowing food to be distributed directly to families and individuals who may be struggling with hunger.

Through this mission, River Cities Harvest has been able to greatly impact these counties, providing food and resources to the people who need it most. Now, it is our turn to give back as River Cities launches its beef raffle. Purchased from Eden’s Harvest and butchered by Oak Hill Meats, this raffle is the brainchild of the advisory board, led by members Stephanie Powers and Lyndall Harned. Together, the board created this idea as a way to give the community a chance to give back while also providing another excellent meal to the community.

“We’ve sold 170 tickets, $20 per ticket. We are really hoping to sell at least 500 tickets as that will bring in $10,000,” expressed Allen. “We are really hoping that this takes off and that we can bring in some good income from it.”

The proceeds from the raffle will go toward aiding River Cities Harvest with operating expenses, as well as helping them repair their 24-foot box truck, which is currently in the shop. The box truck is an integral part of the River Cities Harvest pickup and redistribution system, and getting it fixed would allow the system to continue functioning at such a broad level.

“With this raffle in mind, we ultimately want to fix our truck to where we can be able to sustain the pickups that we need to do and really just keep us open, because so many people depend on us,” detailed Allen.

Overall, River Cities Harvest is an integral part of our community, reaching out in aid to those who need it most while bringing awareness to hunger. Raffle tickets are available for purchase through the QR code on the flyer, in person at River Cities Harvest headquarters, at First Friday, or directly from Andrea Allen at 606.585.4661.