Tractor Tug for Tots, an Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) organization, raised $13,000 at its annual pull held on Nov. 13 on campus.
The money will be going towards Food4Kids, a Guelph volunteer organization dedicated to fighting child hunger in Ontario. The organization provides healthy food for elementary school students with limited or no access to food on weekends and holidays.
Teams of eight to 10 are required to pay $200 to enter the competition to pull tractors down Reynolds Walk on campus and are always encouraged to raise more.
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“The competition has been running for 15 years; we have never raised $13,000. We even had fewer teams, with some dropping out due to the weather or not being able to compete,” says Tuesday Kristiansen, fourth-year student within the OAC and chair of Tractor Tug for Tots.
Premier Equipment and Stoltz in Elmira donated the tractors and two drivers to sit in the cab and run the machines all day.
Lawnmower pulls were added to the event a couple years ago for individuals to try their hand at pulling on the day of the event with a donation.
“We encourage people who aren’t currently participating in the event to come out, show a little bit of support and get a photo opp,” says Kristiansen.
This year The Engineers were the winning pulling team averaging 17.40 seconds to pull the tractors approximately 60 feet.
The Rotaract Club team raised the highest amount of money at $396.
“As agriculture students we like to run a lot of events between our classes, team up with each other, compete and so being able to give back to the community while doing something that represents agriculture is great.”
With $13,000 raised and more donations to come from different University of Guelph organizations, the final donation cheque will support at least 26 more elementary school students within the Guelph community.
