Livestock sales are a pinnacle moment at county fairs, bringing community together to support and celebrate local 4-H youth. In Appalachian Ohio, this summer ritual is increasingly bringing community together to also support neighbors facing food insecurity – thanks to an innovative campaign spearheaded by the Harrison County Community Foundation and other Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) affiliate foundations.
In 2024, HCCF debuted its Fill the Freezer campaign, inviting buyers at the Harrison 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. In partnership with the Harrison County Fair Board, local 4-H members, local food pantries and meat processors, a total of 19 hogs and the meat processing costs were donated, generating 3,739 pounds of sausage valued at more than $19,600 to feed Harrison County families.
Fill the Freezer was piloted in the region by the Community Foundation for Perry County in 2021 and has since expanded to four other Appalachian Ohio counties served by FAO affiliate foundations. In 2022, the Hocking County Community Fund launched its Fill the Freezer campaign, followed in 2023 by the Gallia Community Foundation and the Vinton County Community Fund, which helped expand a similar program called “Fair to Family.”
Across our region, communities are putting food on the tables of families in need, supporting those working on the front lines of food insecurity and demonstrating the difference we can all make when we work together.