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Valley City State University students and staff helped pick squash during the annual event held recently at the Dan Faust Garden west of Valley City.

More than 220 students spent the morning picking 160 box containers filled with squash. The boxes were provided by the Great Plains Food Bank with each one being 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 4 ft. John Deere Seeding Group and Stoudt Ross Ford donated equipment and labor; along with D&B Portables who donated port-a-potties and Leevers Foods helped with smaller boxes for produce. Private parties brought bobcats, pickups and trailers to help load the large boxes and transport them to the semis.

Dan Faust, who owns the garden, said over one million pounds of food has been donated to the Great Plains Food Bank since he started about 12 years ago. A special thanks to Paul Feist who provided the leadership, organizing and collaborating with VCSU and others to make the event successful.

In addition to Paul, other volunteers were Terry Lang and Julie Fosse, who have been helping at the garden every week since spring. About four semi-truck loads of squash and cucumbers have been taken to the Great Plains Food Bank to be donated this year.

Squash Picking