Storm Lake winner donates Rotary car fundraiser prize back to club

Adam Kutz turned a Rotary giveaway into another round of local giving, taking home the club’s $1,000 car fundraiser prize and donating it back to Rotary at A&A Auto.

Kutz won the 2026 Storm Lake Rotary Club car fundraiser with a time of Feb. 17 at 1:40, the same moment the Rotary car sank into the lake. The prize presentation, and Kutz’s decision to give the money back, happened Friday at his business, A&A Auto, adding a hometown twist to a fundraiser built on guessing the exact second the car would go under.

The car itself came out of the water Thursday night, when Storm Lake Towing brought it back to shore and gave the event a visible finish after weeks of anticipation. Rotary has long framed the contest as a $10-ticket fundraiser with a $1,000 winner, with the rest of the money going to community support and projects around Storm Lake.

That local impact is already easy to trace. Rotary recently distributed $11,000 to 12 grant applicants, including Storm Lake youth sports, STARS Mentoring Program, Hope Haven, Sleep in Heavenly Peace and the Storm Lake High School band. Kutz’s decision to return his winnings means the same fundraiser that paid out a cash prize will also send more money back into that same network of programs and volunteers.

The car-plunge fundraiser has become a familiar local event in its own right, with 720 tickets in one version, each carrying a printed time. The club had previously put the fundraiser on hold for two years because shallow water interfered with the event, then brought it back with help from familiar partners. Storm Lake Radio donated a car for one edition, Iowa Central Community College automotive department students removed the innards to keep the lake from being polluted, and Storm Lake Towing & Recovery handled the work of getting the car on and off the ice and water.

For Kutz, who is also known as a Storm Lake Fire Department leader, the move kept the prize close to the people who helped create it. In a town where fundraisers often compete for attention, this one ended with a local business owner sending the money straight back into the community that made the guess worth making.