VFW volunteers work concessions
By Angie Landsverk
Area volunteers who worked at Lambeau Field concessions stands this past NFL season raised $65,496 for Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1037 and other local organizations.
“Out of that, the VFW is keeping $12,251.79. The rest goes out to you guys for all your help,” MaryKay Werner said during a Feb. 22 banquet for the volunteers.
She is a member of the VFW post’s auxiliary and coordinated local volunteers for two stands at Lambeau Field.
Delaware North provides the food and beverage concessions at Lambeau Field.
Nonprofits run the concessions and earn a percentage of the net sales from their stands.
The local VFW post is among the groups overseeing concessions.
“We can’t keep the VFW going without this fundraiser,” Werner said. “We have seen some posts close because they can’t afford to pay their bills.”
The funds raised by the post also support its scholarship program.
Of the $65,497 they raised, $59,054 was the percentage of net sales they earned from the stands.
The other $6,443 were the tips they received.
Werner said they barely broke $50,000 last year.
Volunteers
A total of 133 people volunteered for the local VFW post this past season.
At three Green Bay Packers’ games, the larger of the two stands they ran went over $40,000 in sales, Werner said.
Paul Piencikowski volunteered the last two years and said they broke $30,000 in sales at a few games during the 2018-19 season.
He attributed this past season’s increase in sales to working out kinks and bottlenecks.
Piencikowski initially got involved the school year his daughter was going to New York City for Waupaca High School’s choir trip.
The funds he raised volunteering went toward that.
“They needed help. I was available, so I went for it,” he said.
Piencikowski said it is a blessing for parents to be able to help youth go on band trips, choir trips and to FFA leadership conferences.
What he raised this year is for youth going on a mission trip with First Assembly of God.
Another volunteer donates what he raises to Waupaca’s police department.
He does so anonymously.
The funds are supporting School Resource Officer Wes Zube, who is training his dog to become a therapy dog in the Waupaca School District.
Carl Eggebrecht, a retired Waupaca principal, has volunteered at Lambeau Field three seasons.
He has donated what he raised to the VFW post as well as to Waupaca’s middle and high school bands.
Both of his children were in band.
“They really enjoyed and appreciated everything music did for them,” he said.
He said it is fun working with different people in the concession stand.
‘It’s a busy time,” Eggebrecht said.
Rene Lehman, a retired Waupaca teacher, said it is a 10-hour day by the time they are done.
“For a noon game, you have to be in Green Bay by 8 a.m.,” she said.
Lehman taught agriscience at WHS and has volunteered at Lambeau Field four seasons.
“I wanted to be able to help raise money to help FFA kids go to leadership workshops,” she said.
Lots of curds
This past season, Piencikowski was put in charge of one stand’s kitchen.
“I was in charge of 12 to 15 in the back,” he said.
The stand had nine deep fryers, two flat-top griddles and four serving windows, Piencikowski said.
“It entailed overseeing, plating, making sure we had product available at the windows to sell,” he said. “In one game, we would sell over 1,000 pounds of cheesecurds – just our stand.”
He describes the experience as an “absolute blast” and said the youth who plate and serve the food are “phenemonal.”
Werner said they fried 10,000 hamburgers last season and sold a ton of cheesecurds at three different games.
“We could go a mile with our brats,” she said in explaining how many of them they sold.
Werner said there was one game that resulted in each volunteer receiving $199 toward their organization.
“It’s amazing what we did,” she said.
Werner thanked the volunteers for their time and dedication to the program and also for supporting the VFW post.
“I’m hoping you all come back next year and help out,” she said.