4-H and Local Businesses Team up to Prepare in Excess of 150,000 Pounds of Meat and Food Items for Distribution to Families in Need
SALT LAKE CITY - October 8, 2014 - The annual 4-H Purchased Meat Program service project will be held on Saturday, October 11th at 9:30am at Utah Food Bank's warehouse. This innovative and important project helps to fill an important gap in the diets of the 444,000 Utahns at risk of missing a meal today that Utah Food Bank serves. The program began in 2005 when Farmington 4-H Lamb Club donated a few hundred pounds of meat as a service project. In just 10 years, it has become a model of service for 4-H youth in Utah, and this year's project will bring the total donations to over 905,000 pounds of meat and other food items since the program's inception.
"The significance of this program cannot be underestimated. Not only do the clients receive rarely-available highly nutritious meat products, but Utah Food Bank especially takes pride in the fact that many counties statewide are having a direct impact on our mission of Fighting Hunger Statewide," said Ginette Bott, Utah Food Bank Chief Development Officer. "We are incredibly grateful to everyone who participates to make this program such a success."
To make this possible, corporate and private donors raise enough money to purchase most of the 4-H livestock sold at county and state fair auctions throughout the course of the summer. The auction price goes to the 4-H participants, and the meat goes to Utah Food Bank, making it a win-win for everyone. Participating counties this year include: Cache, Davis, Morgan, Rich, Salt Lake, Tooele, Wasatch, and Weber. On the day of the event, youth and local businesses will sort food and hear remarks from Salt Lake County, Utah Food Bank representatives, and event sponsors Industrial Supply, NPL, and Questar.
"This annual event is a way for youth and businesses to come together to support Utah Food Bank and provide quality food for people within our communities that are in need," said Kelly Maxfield, vice President of IT/Administration at Questar Corporation and Board Member for Utah Food Bank.
About Utah Food Bank
Utah Food Bank provides food to a statewide network of 134 emergency food pantries and agencies. Last fiscal year, Utah Food Bank distributed 37.5 million pounds of food and goods, the equivalent of approximately 31.3 million meals for families and individuals in need. Utah Food Bank also served over 244,000 Kids Cafe meals, delivered almost 41,000 food boxes and filled over 60,000 kids' backpacks for hunger-free weekends. For more information about Utah Food Bank, visit www.utahfoodbank.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UtahFoodBank and Twitter at www.twitter.com/UtahFoodBank.
