For Immediate Release
Living History Farms
Media Contact:
Amy Day
Director of Marketing & Communications
Phone: (515)278-5286 x117
Email address: pr@lhf.org
GoServ Global to Build Sukup Safe T Home ® at Living History Farms on May 16

URBANDALE, IA - On Thursday, May 16, Living History Farms, GoServ Global, Polk County Farm Bureau, and Sukup Manufacturing Co. will build a Sukup Safe T Home ® as a new feature of Living History Farms. The build will occur while the museum is open, allowing guests—including hundreds of Iowa schoolchildren—to observe the process. The museum opens at 9am and closes at 4pm. Several special guests will gather at 2pm at the build site to commemorate the project. The build and especially the 2 o’clock ceremony are open to the press. 

Special guests include 3rd generation Sukup family member and general counsel for Sukup Manufacturing Co., Emily Schmitt, Iowa Assistant Secretary of Agriculture & Land Stewardship, Julie Kenney, GoServ Global Executive Director, Paul van Gorkom, former President of the Board for Polk County Farm Bureau, Brad Moeckly , Living History Farms President, Ruth Haus, Living History Farms Board Chair, Kelsey Knowles, and Director of Partnerships at Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, Candy Streed.

Thanks to contributions from Polk County Farm Bureau and Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, Living History Farms will also install interpretative signage following the build to explore how this structure, a piece of Iowa's agricultural heritage and innovation, serves the world as grain storage and as an invaluable shelter for communities around the world.

"GoServ Global is very excited to donate a Safe T Home ® to Living History Farms to tell how innovation by Sukup Manufacturing Co. turned a grain bin into a home that is helping people enslaved by poverty or victims of natural disasters," says Paul van Gorkom, GoServ Global executive director. "The story of how Eugene Sukup started Sukup Manufacturing Co. back in the early 1960’s is an integral part of agricultural history in Iowa, so it fits well with Living History Farms."

“We like to say that giving back is inGRAINed at Sukup, and one of the best examples is our Safe T Home ®,” says Emily Schmitt, who serves as general counsel for Sukup Manufacturing Co. and is a third generation family member. “The Safe T Home ® allows us to use our talent for manufacturing high quality product from steel to provide a secure shelter for places like Haiti. We are thrilled that the Safe T Home ® story will be shared at Living History Farms, an institution that shares Sukup’s deep commitment to the agriculture industry in Iowa.”

"Living History Farms is grateful to our terrific partners, who have made this exciting project possible: Sukup Manufacturing Co., GoServ Global, Polk County Farm Bureau, Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, and Integrated Power Corporation," says Ruth Haus, Living History Farms president.

The idea for this collaboration originated with Polk County Farm Bureau and they paid for the concrete foundation on which the structure sits. Integrated Power Corporation donated a solar panel to the project.

Sukup Manufacturing Co. produces Safe T Homes ® which GoServ Global, as a 501 (c) (3) faith-based nonprofit, then purchases through donated funds and ships to needy families around the world.

About the Sukup Safe T Home ®
After the January 2010 earthquake devastated Haiti, Sukup Manufacturing Co. designed the Safe T Home ® to house displaced families. The Safe T Home ® measures 18-feet in diameter and is made entirely of metal, making it resistant to termites and moisture. 

In 2016, Hurricane Matthew devastated Haiti with winds in excess of 145 mph, putting the homes to the test. Yet, all 200 Safe T Homes ® prevailed with just minor damage, while the vast majority of traditional homes in the area were destroyed. 

Earlier this year, an Iowa FFA team built GoServ Global’s 300th Safe T Home ® in Haiti in memory of Sukup Manufacturing Co. founder Eugene Sukup. In Haiti, the Safe T Homes ® serve as orphanages, a birthing center, as well as housing displaced families. GoServ Global has also built homes in Uganda where they house refugee orphan children who have fled war-torn South Sudan. In Peru, Safe T Homes ® serve as a bible camp.
About Living History Farms
Living History Farms is a non-profit, historical, educational museum located at 11121 Hickman Road, Urbandale, Iowa. Operations and maintenance are dependent upon gate receipts, memberships, and contributions. Living History Farms is open daily May 1 through August 25, 2019 and Wednesday-Sunday from August 31 through October 18, 2019. For more information visit www.LHF.org or call 515-278-5286.
About GoServ Global
A not-for-profit 501c3 organization, GoServ Global was founded in 2011 to care for and support both the physical and spiritual needs of those impacted by humanitarian disasters around the world. In the U.S., GoServ Global provides immediate response to natural disasters bringing hearts, hands and heavy equipment to help victims heal from damage to property and spirit. Internationally, GoServ Global responds to emergency situations then identifies opportunities to create lasting solutions for long-term humanitarian needs. See more about ongoing projects in Haiti, Peru, India, Guatemala, Uganda, and the U.S. by visiting www.goservglobal.org.
About Sukup Manufacturing Co.
Sukup Manufacturing Co. is the world’s largest family-owned and operated grain storage, drying and handling equipment manufacturer. The company is headquartered in Sheffield, Iowa, and covers 1,000,000 sq. ft. of office, manufacturing and warehouse space.

The company employs more than 600 people, making it one of the largest employers in North Central Iowa. Three generations of the family are now active in the business.
Sukup’s product line includes on-farm and commercial grain bins, portable and tower dryers, centrifugal and axial fans and heaters, stirring machines, bin unloading equipment and bin floors and supports. Sukup also manufactures a line of material handling equipment that includes bucket elevators, drag conveyors and chain loop conveyors, as well as a line of steel buildings.

Sukup has six distribution centers located throughout the Midwest. Sukup products are sold throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as in over 80 foreign countries.

Living History Farms | 11121 Hickman Rd | (515)278-5286 | Email | Website