The Greene County Cattlemen’s Association has improved their main community outreach program in a big way.

The Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation (GGCGC) awarded the Cattlemen’s Association $85,000 in 2024 to purchase a refrigerated van. Since then, Greene County Cattlemen’s Association President Justin Robbins says it’s been a game changer. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio their organization was hesitant to apply for the GGCGC grant because they didn’t want to take away money from other groups, but he felt that GGCGC saw their new ride as a need for the community.

“The Cattlemen’s Board is a group of guys that care. I mean they really do care about the community, they care about livestock, they care about people. So that was kind of ‘Eh, do we do it? Do we not?’ We decided to go ahead and go for it.” 

Robbins points out that the van now allows them to serve beef products at larger events, where they can pack all of the necessary perishable items and other equipment needed for a grilling event, roll up to the grocery store, slide the side door open, pile in more meat and away they go. He describes one such grilling event in November of 2024 when they were selling beef steak sandwiches for a fundraiser for the local food pantry, in partnership with Home State Bank and Heartland Bank.

“It was rainy, it was miserable. The van wasn’t, I would say for temperature-wise it wasn’t really that necessary, but we would’ve cancelled it. Because everything we had would’ve been in the back of a pickup (truck). We would’ve just cancelled it, that’s just the way it was.” 

In addition to thanking GGCGC, Robbins also thanks the community for their continued support through their annual Banquet and Trophy Auction that is held in February.