Carly Whorton of Holton, KS received the 2022 Rural Grocery Initiative Leadership Excellence Award. In 2018, Whorton moved back to her hometown and, in partnership with her cousin, purchased, renovated, and reopened the local grocery store, now known as Cecil K’s Hometown Market.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cecil K’s made the decision to close their doors completely to in-person shopping and began taking phone and email orders and offering curbside pickup. On top of that, Whorton took to Facebook to host daily Facebook Live conversations for over three months, creating more than 70 videos, in an attempt to keep customers updated on the constant changes happening in the store and with their ordering and pickup process.

Whorton is a constant advocate for the rural grocer. Over the past few years, the Rural Grocery Initiative has partnered with Whorton on numerous occasions – when writing fact sheets on e-commerce and farm-to-grocery best practices, for instance, and when putting together our webinar series on business transition planning. Whorton has been willing to share her experiences, so that others don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Because of her dedication to supporting rural grocery across the state of Kansas and beyond, we are pleased to award Carly Whorton with the 2022 Rural Grocery Initiative Leadership Excellent Award.

Chandra Ruthstrom of Leonardville, KS received the 2020 Rural Grocery Initiative Leadership Excellence Award. Chandra Ruthstrom served as a key member of the Rural Grocery Initiative team since its founding in 2007 until retiring in 2020. Ruthstrom was instrumental in developing, sustaining, and expanding the Rural Grocery Initiative.

When the Rural Grocery Initiative first started, the office needed to establish where grocery stores in communities of 2,500 people or less existed. Ruthstrom came up with the idea of calling the post office in every little town in Kansas and asking if their town had a grocery store. It took weeks in 2007 to call and identify all of the rural Kansas grocery stores. “This database of rural grocery stores has been one of the biggest assets of our work and it was because of Chandra Ruthstrom” shared Dave Procter, co-founder and director of the Rural Grocery Initiative.

Ruthstrom was the first point of contact for individuals contacting the Rural Grocery Initiative, she led the coordination of the Rural Grocery Summit during her time with the office, and she served as a rural touchstone in the office, providing insight into being ‘’rural by choice,’ as she liked to say, and providing honest feedback on the team’s ideas and efforts to engage with and support rural communities.

“Chandra remains a constant cheerleader for rural Kansas and rural grocery stores. Chandra Ruthstrom loved the Rural Grocery Initiative and she loved the Rural Grocery Summit. It is an honor to present her with the 2020 Rural Grocery Initiative Leadership Excellence Award” shared Procter.