Livestock sales are a pinnacle moment at county fairs, bringing community together to support and celebrate local 4-H youth. In Gallia County, this summer ritual also brings community together to support neighbors facing food insecurity.

In 2023, GCF debuted its Fill the Freezer campaign, inviting buyers at the Gallia County Fair’s Junior Livestock Sale to donate their hog purchases to fill the freezers of the county’s food pantries and fight hunger – one pig at a time.

Over the past four years, the campaign has inspired 115 hog donations and provided more than 15,900 pounds of fresh, local protein for our friends and neighbors.

Thirty-eight hogs were donated at GCF’s 2026 Fill the Freezer campaign, generating approximately 5,000 pounds of sausage. The 2026 campaign was supported by a funding award from the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington.

In partnership with the Gallia County Fair board, local 4-H and FFA members, the Southeast Ohio Foodbank, local food pantries and meat processors, and the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, Fill the Freezer brings together local residents and businesses who not only donate their hog purchases but also donate money to cover meat processing costs.

Learn more

For more information about Gallia County’s Fill the Freezer campaign, email Gallia@ffao.org or call 740.753.1111.

Support Gallia County Fill the Freezer
Filling the freezers of food pantries across the region

In 2025, seven of FAO’s affiliate foundation partners spearheaded or supported Fill the Freezer campaigns, which was piloted in the region in 2021 by the Community Foundation for Perry County. In 2025 alone, more than 33,000 pounds of meat were donated through these programs, which are expanding to additional counties this year. Learn more about Fill the Freezer efforts across Appalachian Ohio.