Thomas Hall was the lucky winner of Iola Rotary’s Grocery Grab, held Saturday morning at G&W Foods of Iola.
Hall was allowed five minutes of virtually unlimited shopping in the store. He racked up over $900 in meat purchases alone. The total bill? A whopping $1,831.92 of free groceries.
“I wanted this bad,” said Hall. “I’ve been here the last three days making a plan, but that all went out the window once I started running,” he said with a grin.
Hall, who with his wife has 10 kids at home and six dogs, estimates he spends around $600 a week on groceries. When asked what he had planned for today’s haul, he didn’t hesitate. “I’m going to feed it to these kids.”
Saturday’s Grocery Grab was the eighth year of what has become an Iola Rotary Club tradition. Rotary, which footed the grocery bill with ticket sales from the event, also uses the fundraiser to help purchase around 50 Thanksgiving baskets that are distributed to area families.
In addition to the five-minute shopping spree, five gift certificates were awarded. Brian Plumlee won a $25 gift certificate, which he will donate to USD 257’s Thanksgiving food drive. Sarah Gilpin won a $50 certificate, Terri Jo Matney won $75, Morgan Newton won $100, and the Pregnancy Resource Center won a $125 gift certificate.
