Aurora Cooperative to donate over $39,000 to local volunteer fire departments across their trade territory

Aurora, NE – Aurora Cooperative held a silent auction at this year’s ACE Summit and Annual Meeting event held on February 11^th and 12^th. The funds raised at the silent auction will be distributed to local volunteer fire departments of the winning bidders. In past years, the silent auction was used as a fundraiser for the cooperative’s Co-Worker Crisis Fund, which helps employees who are in dire need due to disasters or medical reasons.

“The choice to donate the funds to local volunteer fire departments was an easy one,” member services representative, Traci Menke said. “This will help ensure that the communities our farmers, their families, and our employees are living in are well prepared for any crisis that may arise. We know how important volunteer fire departments are to the safety and stability of rural communities.”

Through the two silent auctions that were held each day, funds raised were $19,565 and the Aurora Cooperative matched the funds raised with $19,535 bringing the total going out to communities $39,100. These donations are going to 40 different fire departments with the largest donation being $5,800 and the smallest being $450. Those who won the bid on an item earmarked which volunteer fire department the funds would go to.

“With values like this, we will be able to help relieve at least a small portion of safety equipment costs for some of our local departments,” Menke said.

Through existing grants of the year’s past, Aurora Cooperative has been able to help volunteer fire departments acquire some lifesaving grain engulfment equipment and training. With this new cause for the ACE Summit silent auction, Aurora Cooperative can expand their outreach through these new funds raised.

Fire departments who will be receiving funds include: Aurora, Axtell, Blue Hill, Boelus, Broken Bow, Byron, Central City, Chapman, Clarks, Clay Center, Deshler, Dodge, Doniphan, Edgar, Farwell, Franklin, Fullerton, Geneva, Giltner, Hadar, Hampton, Harvard, Hastings, Henderson, Marquette, McCool Junction, Minden, Nelson-EMS, Paxton, Phillips, Seward, St. Paul, Sutherland, Sutton, Upland, Wallace, Wood River, Wray, CO, and York.

About Aurora Cooperative:

Aurora Cooperative is one of the largest agricultural retailers in the nation, ranking 28th in the nation among all agricultural cooperatives. Aurora Cooperative has been a partner in the success of agriculture for over 112 years, providing high quality, competitive products and services growers rely on every day. Headquartered in Aurora, Nebraska, Aurora Cooperative has over 700 employees across 82 locations in seven states where they provide service and expertise in grain, agronomy, animal nutrition, and energy. In 2019, Aurora Cooperative had total sales over $1 billion, serviced more than 4 million acres, merchandised over 120 million bushels of grain, and have over 34,000 equity members. Aurora Cooperative is a well-established, competitive and innovative cooperative that is built upon providing our owners with profitable solutions that meet their specific needs. We do this by proactively putting our owners’ equity to work, every day, for their farm, their cooperative and for their future. For more information on Aurora Cooperative, please visit www.auroracoop.com