For more than 20 years, RDO Caters Taters has been an avenue for RDO team members to do good and change our neighbors’ lives for the better in the Fargo-Moorhead, West Fargo community.
RDO Caters Taters is coordinated and run almost entirely by RDO team members. This year, as we aim to disrupt the cycle of poverty – two generations at a time – by partnering with the Jeremiah Fargo–Moorhead Program, we ask several team members about their passion for giving back through RDO Caters Taters.
Amanda Dawson – Human Resources Director
Years of involvement with RDO Caters Taters: 18
“I think my favorite memory is something that happens at every single event, at the end where the big check gets shared with the charity,” she says. “You just see that all the hard work from all the team members come together.”
Heidi Carlson – Benefits Manager
Years of involvement with RDO Caters Taters: 6
“With everything that’s going on these days, my favorite memory is volunteering,” she says. “It really is a key element in increasing happiness, and you get the feeling that you are part of something bigger. Sometimes I think we can feel like, there’s nothing I can do, but by doing something like this, you’re helping even if it is in a small way.”
Holly Heintzman – Purchasing Specialist
Years of involvement with RDO Caters Taters: 18
“My favorite RDO Caters Taters memory was the very first time the event sold out in 2006,” she says. “We never thought that it would sell out once, let alone the two or three times that it already has.”
Randy Rusten – eLearning Training Specialist
Years of involvement with RDO Caters Taters: 3
“It was my first year working as a line server [at the event], and I felt like everyone was working at a high pace and next thing you know, we have somebody on our team that looks over and says, ‘Team, we’ve got a problem here, we have got to have a big order ready in 10 minutes’,” Rusten recalls. “And we are falling behind on that – but somebody on the left said, ‘Come on, we can do this, we got this.’, “And everybody just amped up; we worked and we and fulfilled the order in time.”
Steve Burcham – Software Development Manager
Years of involvement with RDO Caters Taters: 20+
“My favorite part of volunteering at RDO Caters Taters is working with other team members, and just feeling like I’m helping the community in some fashion,” he says.
Tara Winterquist – Director of Sales Process
Years of involvement with RDO Caters Taters: 14
“I love interacting with people, even if it is for 10 or 15 seconds,” she says. “It’s always funny how you can get a little chuckle out of somebody, or they make you laugh.”
Tammy Schmitt – Senior Project Accountant
Years of involvement with RDO Caters Taters: 20+
“My favorite memory would be with Make-A-Wish when they were our chosen charity,” she says. “We got to see some of the people who benefited from the charity and hear their stories and just how much the fulfillment of that wish meant to them.”
Tom Espel – Executive Director – Offutt Family Foundation
Years of involvement with RDO Caters Taters: 20+
“My favorite memory is just seeing the massive potatoes. I absolutely love potatoes and having that turned into such a feast for so many people,” he says. “I love seeing that energy that people bring and the smiles on their faces when they come through the line.”
RDO team members give their time to help make this event possible and give back to their immediate community. As a bonus, they create hundreds of memories and connections to their community.
Watch this video featuring several team members and their experience volunteering at the potato luncheon.
All funds raised at RDO Caters Taters this year will be donated to the Jeremiah Program Fargo-Moorhead and their mission to change the lives of single mothers and their children. Join us and discover how a potato luncheon can immediately change the lives of our neighbors.
Save the date for Wednesday, November 2 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Fargo or place your Take-Out order now.
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