Community Foundation for Perry County’s sixth annual campaign continues to fight hunger – one pig at a time
NEW LEXINGTON, Ohio – The Community Foundation for Perry County (CFPC) is bringing its Fill the Freezer campaign back to the Perry County Fair for the sixth consecutive year and rallying the community to fight local hunger – one pig at a time.
The campaign invites buyers at the fair’s July 25 junior livestock sale to donate their hog purchases and others to donate money to cover the meat processing costs to fill the freezers of Perry County’s food pantries. A new partnership between CFPC, the Perry County Commissioners and the United Way of Muskingum, Perry and Morgan Counties is extending Fill the Freezer’s impact to Fairview Assisted Living, also known as the Perry County Home, which will also be provided locally raised protein generated from the campaign.
“We’re incredibly proud of what the Perry County community has built with the Fill the Freezer campaign,” said Julie Paxton, CPFC committee member. “For the past three years, this campaign has yielded enough sausage to fully stock the food pantries serving our friends and neighbors for the entire year, and now we’re expanding to a facility that serves our senior community. It’s all thanks to those who share our love for and commitment to Perry County.”
The 2025 Fill the Freezer campaign saw individuals, businesses and organizations donate 61 hogs and CFPC purchase an additional 19 pigs – resulting in over 9,500 pounds of sausage to feed Perry County residents.
The campaign is held in partnership with the Perry County Fair Board, local 4-H and FFA members, local food pantries, meat processors and the Southeast Ohio Foodbank, which stores and distributes the donated meat to food pantries serving Perry County. United Way of Muskingum, Perry and Morgan Counties is serving as a sponsor of this year’s campaign.
The NiSource Charitable Foundation and Columbia Gas awarded the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) a grant through its Columbia Promise Fund to support several Fill the Freezer campaigns across the Appalachian Ohio region. This funding will support the expansion of these programs to additional counties and help existing initiatives explore innovative strategies to grow their impact.
The meat donated through Fill the Freezer helps individuals and families in Perry County, where more than 16 percent of the population experiences food insecurity, as well as the food pantries striving to fill that need. The Southeast Ohio Foodbank, which serves 10 Appalachian Ohio counties including Perry County, reports that only 12 percent of the commodities it receives and distributes is perishable protein like frozen meat, poultry and seafood.
CFPC first piloted Fill the Freezer in 2021, and the campaign has since expanded to six additional counties served by FAO affiliate foundation partners. In 2025 alone, more than 33,000 pounds of fresh, local protein – one of the most expensive staples for both families stretched thin and the food pantries that serve them – were donated through these programs. The campaign is expanding to several additional counties this year.