<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4V0Qq8_0qQI6Tnr00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4V0Qq8_0qQI6Tnr00" width="817" height="500" ><figcaption>Left to right: John Wayne's son Ethan Wayne, Diesel Dave, AKC Marketing's Ann Marie Edwards, Brian Wegener and Sparks Motors Managing Officer Caleb Perkins stand in front of the truck Wegener won in a raffle by Pivot Bio. Courtesy Photo</figcaption></figure>When Lindsey area Farmer Brian Wegener got a visit from Pivot Bio some time ago, he wasn't sure what to expect. As they started interviewing him about a sweepstakes he'd entered months ago, he thought he understood what was going on."I didn't even know that's what it was. I had seen the shirt of one of the guys and I was like 'that's weird.' They walked in with the camera and started out and said 'You remember you signed up for the raffle for this pickup giveaway?'" Wegener said. "They said I was one of four finalists and they were coming out to interview me about it," Wegener said.Wegener had gotten an email from the company almost a year beforehand, he said, with info about entering a raffle. He signed up, thinking "why not?" and largely forgotten about it until they came by, he said.The presentation of the truck was a little unique, Wegener said, as the crew who built it drove it to his fourth-generation family farm from Utah, which they've only done a few times before. Even the way they presented it to Wegener, he said, was surprising."They were doing an interview asking me why I want a pickup and all these kind of things and they wanted to go look at my pickup," Wegener said. "I was like 'no, I'd rather not, it's a disaster right now,' but they said 'let's look at it' again. I gave in and we walked around a bigger piece of equipment and they opened up the door."Ethan Wayne, John Wayne's son, came with the truck to present it to Wegener, as did Diesel Dave, the man behind the design and Caleb Perkins, managing officer of Sparks Motors. The Ford F-550 sports a massive toolbox addition in the bed, a custom engraving of John Wayne on the center console and even items in the toolboxes in the back, like shovels and a setup for a keg tap.The truck's maiden voyage under Wegener delivered a full truck bed of food and necessities to the Boone County Food Pantry. In a press release issued by Pivot Bio on Dec. 11, the company said this was part of their commitment to helping farmers feed their communities, in this case, very directly. Lynn Bygland, manager of the Boone County Food Pantry, said in the press release that they at the food pantry were stunned by the generosity of the donation."Donations around the holidays are always needed and this generous donation of food will help many families in need in Boone and the surrounding counties,” Bygland said.Mitchell Craft, director of communications at Pivot Bio said the truck, donation and John Wayne Cancer Foundation coming together on this centers around Pivot Bio's wanting to support farmers and the things that are important to them."Farmers are this the heart of our company, the heart of everything we want to do, and our focus is on how we can help to make their lives better and that means delighting them with things like the sweepstakes.The John Wayne Cancer Foundation's involvement in particular, Craft added, helps raise awareness for the foundation and their fight against cancer. The foundation has a campaign called "Block the Blaze" surrounding skin cancer that affects farmers. Everything centers around supporting farmers like Wegener, Craft said."It is one of those things where there's a lot of disparate things, but really they all tie back to the fact that the growers are the center of our company," Craft said.</div></body>

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Ridin' with The Duke: Platte County farmer wins John Wayne truck in sweepstakes, delivers food to Boone County Food Pantry

When Lindsey area Farmer Brian Wegener got a visit from Pivot Bio some time ago, he wasn't sure what to expect. As they started interviewing him about a sweepstakes he'd entered months ago, he thought he understood what was going on. \"I didn't even know that's what it was. I...

When Lindsey area Farmer Brian Wegener got a visit from Pivot Bio some time ago, he wasn't sure what to expect. As they started interviewing him about a sweepstakes he'd entered months ago, he thought he understood what was going on. "I didn't even know that's what it was. I...