Although we have all turned our sights to 2026, we want to take a moment to properly celebrate the incredible generosity Oklahoma's pork community displayed during the 2025 holiday season. After searching social media and checking in with so many of our faithful friends, we are ready to announce impressive totals for the 2025 Give-A-Ham campaign. Our board and staff extend deep thanks to each person who donated hams, pork products, time, or funds during our most recent giving adventure throughout the month of December.
Even though we know not everyone publicly shares their Give-A-Ham involvement on social media, we can confidently declare more than 830 hams, 40,750 pounds of protein, $25,750 of financial gifts, and 630 volunteer hours were donated as part of Oklahoma's latest Give-A-Ham Challenge. Those record-setting totals mean thousands of Oklahomans enjoyed delicious pork meals in the past month because of our industry's heart for giving, and we have no doubt many additional donations took place in communities across Oklahoma.
Every "Giving Season" the challenge looks a little different, and for 2025 we were especially proud of the broad reach Give-A-Ham achieved impacting all areas of the state. So many wonderful folks joined us to offer 3,000 delicious free pork lunches in Enid, Okemah, Woodward, Bristow, Tecumseh, Lawton, and Leedey during December. Additionally, Seaboard Foods' eye-popping 40,000 pound pork donation to the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma is believed to be the largest single product gift in the campaign's history. Another new element to this year's challenge was a generous $7,000 financial gift from our friends at the National Pork Industry Foundation to support local communities through the campaign. Pairing these highlights with special events like 100+ 4-H and FFA students volunteering at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the individual giving that occurred thanks to challenges being accepted by many of our members and supporters - we can say without question that the 2025 Give-A-Ham Challenge touched lives across Oklahoma.
Another extraordinary high point of our 2025 Give-A-Ham Challenge brought national attention to the campaign during the final days before Christmas. Thanks to strong partnership with Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur, we were thrilled to see U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins accept the Give-A-Ham Challenge with a heartfelt shout out to Oklahoma pork producers and production agriculture as a whole. What a compliment to our industry and to the phenomenal momentum this giving campaign has built in recent years!
Certainly less of a priority than feeding people across the state, but the Oklahoma Pork Council also recognizes an important part of our role is to publicly brag on our members who skip every opportunity to brag on themselves. So a secondary success of our annual giving campaign includes positive coverage across media types, including TV coverage, printed publications, social media shares, and more. Every chance to remind Oklahomans that pig farmers are great neighbors is a huge win in our book. Here's to a hugely successful giving season last year and even more generosity and industry pride as we begin 2026!