Special Delivery

If you are in the market for slightly used fitness equipment, March and April is typically a great time to find lots of affordable choices. Based on best intentions, lots of folks buy new equipment in early January in a sincere attempt to live up to their New Year’s resolution to lose weight and to get in better shape. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us fail to live up to our best intentions and we soon have unused equipment in the basement that needs to find another home.

In addition to setting goals to improve our health, many of us also begin the New Year with a desire to “give more back.” I am committed to making sure that I more fully live up to this resolution in 2012 and I urge you to do the same. This desire was reinforced on a recent Sunday morning when my pastor urged the congregation to remember our responsibility to demonstrate compassion to those in need and in the same service called us to service in assisting those is Haiti still suffering from a devastating 2010 earthquake.

Not sure why, but there has been a tugging on my heart to “do something” to help those in Haiti whose lives were destroyed by the January 2010 earthquake that killed tens of thousands and left more than a million homeless ever since the disaster. Today, two years later, there are still more than 600,000 Haitians living in tents and under tarps. A call to show compassion and a desire to give more back has led me to join with others to launch a major effort to deliver help and hope to those less fortunate
in Haiti.

And I am asking you to join me in helping make this very special delivery. 

In December, Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture announced that they were co-chairing an effort to raise funds to donate up to 48 specially modified grain bins manufactured by Iowa-based Sukup Manufacturing to provide safe housing for displaced families in Haiti. Dozens of individuals, organizations and companies have already responded to the call to donate dollars to help us purchase these $5700 housing units. All donations are given to Iowa based Global Compassion Network to purchase and deliver these unique structures to the Village of Hope in Haiti. Your contributions are tax deductible and 100% of the dollars donated will go to the purchase of
these homes.

In addition, the Iowa Soybean Association is partnering with Meals from the Heartland to provide soy-based meals to Haiti as well. For every unit donated, ISA will provide $1,000 to Meals from the Heartland, which has significant experience in delivering meals to those in need in Haiti and other places around the world, including in the United States.

To learn more and to donate, please visit our web site (www.iasoybeans.com) and click on the “Special Delivery” logo. Join me, Iowa’s soybean farmers and hundreds of others as we once again show that Iowa cares. If you want to learn more about how you can help us meet our goal, give me a call. I would love to see you join us in this important project.