CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — Bane-Welker Equipment recently held a Toys for Tots drive and collected over 1,800 toys to donate the communities they serve.

It was a shared labor of love – both employees and customers got into the spirit. 

“This was such a rewarding project for our employees and our customers,” said Jason Bane, president of Bane-Welker Equipment. “We had customers and employees who used their Red Zone Rewards points to buy more toys for the children.” 

This type of project aligns well with the Bane-Welker mission of making a positive impact on the communities they serve. 

This year, the Toys for Tots project was initiated by two Bane-Welker employees, Nettie Grubb and Justin Butler, a former Marine, who benefitted from the program himself as a child. 

“My passion for helping grew from when I was a child and once received toys from this same program,” stated Butler. “It meant a lot to me then, and I wanted to help make a difference in children’s lives now. I feel very proud to be a part of a company who makes time for such important community efforts.”

The toys are distributed throughout the local communities. Bane-Welker in Remington collected the most, with 550. Local FFA chapters helped with the effort. 

Bane-Welker Equipment, founded in 1967 by the late Kenneth and Patricia Bane, is an agriculture equipment company representing Case IH and other complimentary brands. Bane-Welker offers new and used equipment, parts, sales, service, precision farming, online parts sales and customer support. The company operates 9 stores in Indiana including Crawfordsville, La Crosse, Lebanon, Remington, Terre Haute, Pendleton, Plymouth, Winamac, and Wingate, and six stores in Ohio, including Circleville, Eaton, Georgetown, Plain City, Utica, and Wilmington.