Giving Back in More Ways than One

At Oklahoma Pork, we love to share image enhancement stories of how our industry is more than raising pigs and about how pork producers and youth swine exhibitors are making a meaningful difference in their communities.  

One powerful example of this came through a recent collaboration with the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. Sara Marlow, Advocacy and Public Policy Coordinator at the Tulsa food bank, helped coordinate a special treat for more than 50 Oklahoma Youth Expo Swine Show Volunteers: Tiny’s Cookies, one of the food bank’s culinary brands. These cookies provided a sweet afternoon treat and highlighted a creative fundraising effort that supports local programs and gives youth groups like FFA chapters and 4-H clubs a way to learn about community service while raising funds for their own activities. 

The collaboration also included inviting 4-H and FFA students to donate their market barrows to the Backpack for Kids program, which initiative supports children facing food insecurity by providing backpacks filled with nutritious, high protein pork sticks. Pork for Packs processes donated hogs from youth projects into protein sticks that help feed chronically hungry children across Oklahoma through backpack programs run by the Regional Food Bank and the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. 

The Oklahoma Pork Council is proud to work alongside Sara, Jeff Marlow, and the entire team at the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma giving back in more ways than one and showing the positive impact Oklahoma pork producers and youth can have across the state.