'More than happy to donate': Manitoba farm gives potatoes to Ukrainian community

A Manitoba potato farm has donated a half ton of spuds to a good cause.

David Turchyn works for RKS Farms near Medika, Man. He said the farm had a bumper crop of potatoes this year, with a lot left to spare.

"They graciously donated the potatoes," said Turchyn "There's an abundance this year of potatoes and this is excess."

Turchyn drove his half-ton pickup truck full of potatoes into Winnipeg Sunday afternoon to donate them to Manitoba's chapter of the Canadian Ukrainian Congress. He said his daughter came up with the idea after he told her about all the extra potatoes.

"She said 'maybe dad you could find someplace for the Ukrainian community in Winnipeg,'" he said.

Turchyn approached his employers about donating the excess potatoes. "They're good people that I work for, and they were more than happy to donate these."

Volunteers unloaded more than 500 lbs of potatoes. They will be sorted into sacks and shared with the Ukrainian community across Manitoba.

Turchyn said he was inspired to donate by Manitoba's first wave of Ukrainian settlers.

"They came here and they had to of course clear the land and stuff like that before they could receive title. And they didn’t have any support. That bothered me," he said.

This is the second load of potatoes donated by the farm. The first yielded about 800 spuds.