Last week we heard from Dan who is the plant manager for Nestle Purina!  He shared some amazing history of the plant: in 1965 the Crete plant was established, in 2001 Nestle acquires Ralston Purina, in 2006 there was a warehouse expansion in Crete, 2016 gave them a robotic variety packline, and finally in 2024 they worked with the city to pave the road going to the warehouse.  

 

In Crete, there are 573 associates, and they produce Purina Proplan, Purina ONE, Friskies, and Propan Veterinary Diets.  One interesting fact about the Crete plant is that are are one of only four wet food distributors in the country!  It's clear we have a gem in this little Crete community and we are grateful to have them.  He shared that the company wants to be a part of the communities they serve and they have a "Purina Cares" day where they go out annually to do community service.  He'd love more ideas on what he and the employees can do, so it sounds like a great partnership with Rotary in the future!  

 

Last but not least, I'm pleased to share that Dan mentioned Nestle donating the difference between Polio and the Foundation to help us meet our annual goals for the district!!  Thank you so much, Dan and Purina, for your generosity!

 

Coming up, we're gearing up to submit the District Grant!!  We're applying to use the funds on the basketball hoop for the basketball court.  Stay tuned for updates on that as club officers are submitting the application by the end of the month.  

 

Next meeting, Jim J will share about his recent trip to Egypt!