Dairy Solutions Employees Support Land O’Lakes Cows for Africa® Program at National Sales Meeting
2/1/2010 12:00 AM

At the recent Dairy Solutions National Sales meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., something unexpected and quite amazing happened. During one of the seminars, Sarah Zehrer, an assistant marketing manager in Land O'Lakes Foodservice, made a heartfelt presentation about the Cows for Africa program. The program, which began last fall, allows colleges and universities to help create a better quality of life through the donation of a dairy cow to families in Africa. Zehrer’s presentation showcased the strong results that the program has seen – 20 cows have been pledged to Malawian families.

Dairy Solutions salesperson Mike Kothbauer was so moved by the impact of Cows for Africa on the recipient families and their children, that he made a challenge that evening at dinner: He would personally match team contributions dollar-for-dollar to enable meeting attendees to buy one cow for a Malawian family. Much to his surprise, at the end of the evening enough money had been pledged to cover the cost of one and a half cows.

“The video Sarah shared with us had one statistic that had a strong impact on me--one in four children in Malawi doesn’t reach the age of five,” said Kothbauer. “Because I have three grandchildren under the age of five, it made me realize that if I lived in Malawi and had a fourth grandchild born, it is likely that I would lose him or her to disease or hunger. That fact alone made me want to make a difference in someone’s life by paying for the first half of one cow in the Cows for Africa program.”

The following day it was announced that they were about $900 short of being able to supply two cows for poverty-stricken families. That’s when Kevin White, owner of Foodservice International Restaurant Supplier, walked up to the podium and announced that his company would purchase an entire cow.  Soon thereafter, a slew Land O’Lakes broker owners marched up to the podium and pledged a cow. 

By the end of the night, enough money had been pledged to send nine cows to Malawi, in addition to the initial cow purchased from Mike Kothbauer’s challenge. The cheers were deafening and many eyes were left moist.

The Dairy Solutions team went to the sales meeting with hopes of making a difference for Land O’Lakes in 2010. In the end, the team left with an impact and reach beyond their wildest imaginations.

To learn more about Land O’Lakes Cows for Africa, please visit landolakesfoodservice.com/cowsforafrica.