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Over the past year, the Cheyenne County Rotary Club has identified the need to improve the efficiency and quality of our food service at community fundraising events-particularly our pretzel booth at Sidney's annual Oktoberfest. Last year, our club relied on baking pretzels off-site at a member's home and transporting them multiple times a day to the event. This process was time-consuming, logistically difficult, and limited the freshness and volume of our product. While we made it work with borrowed and secondhand equipment, it became clear that better tools would allow us to serve more patrons, raise more funds, and represent Rotary more professionally in the community.
To meet these needs, our club proposes to purchase updated, portable equipment that will allow us to bake, serve, and accept payments directly at the event site. The project funds will be used to purchase:
The equipment we hope to purchase includes:
• A double pizza oven
• A metal folding table for the oven
• A kettle to warm butter and dip pretzels
• A Square card reader for digital payment
• A cheese warmer/dispenser
• A popcorn machine
This equipment will streamline our operations, reduce volunteer burnout, improve food quality, and allow us to scale up sales. Our goal is to turn this into a dependable annual fundraiser and use the same setup at other community events throughout the year.
Timeline:
We plan to purchase the equipment in August 2025, test and train volunteers in early September, and debut the upgraded booth at Oktoberfest in early October. The project will be completed by October 2025.
Club Member Involvement:
Club members will be hands-on throughout the project: researching and purchasing equipment, training on setup and food handling, staffing the booth during events, and maintaining and storing the equipment between uses. In addition to serving food, members will also engage with the public about Rotary's mission and local impact. We are also working to identify more opportunities at community events to sell pretzels and popcorn while raising awareness of our Club and Service Projects.
Funds raised will support vital service projects, including our new role as the Local Community Organization (LCO) for the Toys for Tots program, scholarships for local youth, grocery gift cards for area veterans, and outreach to local nursing homes.
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