BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – At the 2026 Kentucky County Fair, members of the Bowling Green community broke records, with a singular mission of helping those in need.
At this years fair, more than 100 Kentucky County Fair contestants collected over 20,000 items for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentucky.
“We never expected this volume. They said that they believed is was the single largest donation from an organization that they’d ever seen and that it would last them months and months,” said 2025 Ms. Kentucky County Fair Queen Courtney Rager.
According to the Bowling Green native, the volume of donations quickly overwhelmed initial storage plans.
“We just kind of planned that we would store the items in our small little hotel rooms because you didn’t really expect to get 20,000. Then it was morning of and we’re thinking, ‘Okay, we’re getting messages of girls coming in with big totes and totes and totes and saying that they have over 6,000 items.’ Then we realized that we don’t have the volume for that,” Rager said.
Rager and the 2025 Mrs. Kentucky County Fair winner, Lindsey Haukom, organized the donation drive to make a difference in the community and start a new tradition for the fair.
“We knew that we wanted to set a tone that represented servant hearts and really keeping in mind that the community matters and what you do with your title matters,” Rager said. “So again, the crown is great, but what you do with it matters more and the legacy that you leave behind and the people that you impact. People may not remember your name or who you are, but they’ll remember what you did and how you made them feel.”
According to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana, the massive donation will supply the charity for months to come.
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