Fill the Freezer

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

The Guernsey County Foundation and the Guernsey County Agricultural Society partnered to bring the Fill the Freezer campaign to the 2026 Guernsey County Junior Fair Livestock Sale. The campaign invited buyers at the livestock sale to donate their hog purchases to fill the freezers of the county’s food pantries and others to donate money to cover meat processing costs. The goal? To fight hunger in Guernsey County – one pig at a time.

Fifty hogs were donated at the inaugural campaign, providing 6,437 pounds of locally raised protein to feed Guernsey County residents.

The Fill the Freezer campaign is held in partnership with the Guernsey County Agricultural Society, local 4-H and FFA members, meat processors and Mid-Ohio Food Collective, which stores and distributes the meat to Guernsey County food pantries.

The NiSource Charitable Foundation, Columbia Gas, EOG Resources and Select Water Solutions served as corporate sponsors of the 2026 campaign. Bi-Con Services, the Guernsey County Foundation, the Jeff and Jane Schumacher Cox Fund, Markley Beckley Wealth Advisors, the Sara Lee Stevens-Youngs Family Memorial Fund and Southeastern Ohio Counseling Center also contributed financial support.

Meeting a local need

The locally raised meat donated through Fill the Freezer will not only help individuals and families in Guernsey County, where 18 percent of the population experiences food insecurity*, but also the food pantries that serve them by providing high-quality protein. Meat is among the most expensive grocery items, making it often unaffordable for both families living on lower incomes and food pantries.

* Source: Feeding America

Learn more

For more information about the Guernsey County Fill the Freezer campaign, please contact Sam Bond-Zielinksi at sbondzielinski@selectwater.com or 740.624.6841.

Filling the freezers of food pantries across the region

Guernsey County is one of the latest to join Fill the Freezer efforts across Appalachian Ohio. This year, more than 10 of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio’s affiliate foundation partners are spearheading or supporting Fill the Freezer, 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.