Last year’s excellent citrus was hoped to be the impetus to increase sales this year; then the Pandemic came. This year sales started slow but increased to the point that they were comparable to last year. With slightly lower cost for citrus and increased cash donations, this year’s campaign should result in a profit in excess of $10,000.This year for the first time, the other four Springfield Rotary clubs participated in our Citrus Campaign. Sunrise has been a partner for many years. Midtown used to be a full participant and when they discontinued participation, a few members continued to sell citrus. One of those members switched to Westside and continues to sell citrus. South has for many years had their own independent citrus sales. This year, because of the pandemic, they decided not to sell citrus. Some of their members continued to sell by participating with Sunrise and Midtown.
Our Citrus Campaign’s donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank continues to be a success. This year, Sunrise, Midtown and our club donated 150 large cartons of oranges. This is an increase from last year’s donation of 108 cartons. These cartons have smaller oranges than we sell in order to provide a broader distribution of the oranges. This year’s donation of 150 cartons provides over 16,000 oranges for the foodbank to distribute.
The citrus is scheduled to arrive at our warehouse next Monday. On Tuesday, at 2:00PM, we will have a small crew of five volunteers to create the cartons of half orange/half grapefruit for the mixed cartons we sold. On Wednesday afternoon, the foodbank is tentatively scheduled to pickup the 150 cartons of oranges donated to them. Friday from 8:00AM to 5:00PM and Saturday from 8:00AM to 1:00PM, the warehouse will be open to the public.
Anyone working or visiting the warehouse will be required to wear a mask and maintain social distancing. The warehouse is an open space which should provide a safe place to distribute the citrus. Work crews will be reduced in size to increase social distancing.