At Oelwein’s Birdnow Motor Trade, part of the Birdnow Family of Dealerships, the annual Season of Giving Sale recently concluded, with both the Community Kitchen Cupboard and the Plentiful Pantry benefiting from the remarkable generosity of the company and its clients.
“We are happy to report that, thanks to our great customers and amazing employees, over 11,000 meals and more than 400 non-perishable items have been donated to our local food pantries,” wrote Jeremy Birdnow of Birdnow Motors in a Facebook post.
“It takes a village,” he added, “and, boy, are we blessed with ours!”
The Birdnow’s Season of Giving Sale, which completed its fifth year in 2022 and lasts the entirety of December, begins when both Jeremy and his brother Justin Birdnow, who operates the Birdnow Motors location in Monona, commit to assisting their respective communities’ local food pantries. “During December, we both pledge 4,000 meals,” Jeremy Birdnow explained, which serves as a starting point in the brothers’ efforts to support those in the region with food needs. After making the initial pledge, the Birdnows then extend the effort to include their businesses directly by tying the sales made at each dealership to additional support for those in need. “In December,” Birdnow said, “we donate 25 meals for each vehicle sold.”
In 2022, the combination of the initial pledge and the money raised from the sale of vehicles “added up to 11,000 meals” between the two Birdnow locations, according to Birdnow.
Traditionally, these donated meals have taken the form of funds provided to local pantries, who are in a unique position to make the most of each donated dollar they are provided. “You’d be amazed what they can do with the money,” Birdnow said.
Recently, however, donations have taken another form, as well. “The last couple of years, non-perishable food items have also been collected from those who might not want to buy a car,” Birdnow described, an addition which has opened the giving opportunity to more members of the community.
Birdnow shared one specific example demonstrating the benefits this has had on the effort.
Referring to an individual who was not purchasing a vehicle but wished to participate in the giving, he explained that, “while a customer was in for service, we ran out, and picked up items for them to donate,” a scenario reflective both of his own commitment to the cause as well as the selflessness of Birdnow’s customers.
“It’s a pretty cool deal,” he said.
In preparing for their annual sale, “we talk with the food pantries ahead of time,” Birdnow said, in an effort to gauge the pantries’ needs, to ensure that what they provide afterward is as helpful as possible. This groundwork, for instance, might lead to the creation of a list of requested food items, a list that those wishing to donate non-perishable products can use to guide their giving.
It is no doubt thanks to this forethought that the pantries receiving the donations are so pleased to accept the assistance on behalf of those they serve.
About the agencies that Birdnow supports through the Season of Giving Sale, “they are always extremely appreciative,” Birdnow said. Truly committed to bridging what he calls “the hunger gap” existing in the area, he identifies each of Oelwein’s food pantries as vital members of the local community doing essential work. “Both are very needed entities,” he explained. “We just try to provide what little help we can.”
Looking ahead to 2023’s December sale, meanwhile, Birdnow does not foresee any significant changes to his effort, given its recent success; however, “we are always looking at ideas,” he concluded.
