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.
In 2019, Vinton County Middle School teacher Megan Macke launched Fair to Family, inviting buyers at the Vinton County Junior Fair’s livestock sale to donate hogs they purchase to help feed those who would go hungry without assistance from the St. Francis Evangelization Center’s food pantry.
Macke thought Fair to Family, which had been yielding three to four donated hogs annually, would end after the 2022 event and she had exhausted funding for the program. That’s when the Vinton County Community Fund (VCCF) stepped in and asked Macke if she would help continue the program with VCCF taking the lead – and a partnership was born.
The result? Eight of the 30 hogs purchased at the 2023 livestock sale were donated. A local family gave an extra hog. More than $2,000 was raised to cover meat processing costs, and 1,586 packages of meat were delivered to the food pantry.
Today, five of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio’s affiliate foundations are spearheading similar campaigns aimed at fighting hunger – one pig at a time. In 2021, the Community Foundation for Perry County piloted the Fill the Freezer campaign in the region. The Hocking County Community Fund launched its Fill the Freezer campaign in 2022, followed by the Gallia Community Foundation in 2023 and the Harrison County Community Foundation in 2024.
Following the success of the 2023 Fair to Family campaign, VCCF assumed ownership of the program – and with the community’s generosity looks to feed more in our community.
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.