{"id":341,"date":"2026-07-15T13:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/appalachianohio.org\/vinton\/?p=341"},"modified":"2026-07-15T13:54:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:54:04","slug":"campaign-to-fight-local-hunger-is-back-at-the-vinton-county-junior-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/appalachianohio.org\/vinton\/2026\/07\/15\/campaign-to-fight-local-hunger-is-back-at-the-vinton-county-junior-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaign to fight local hunger is back at the Vinton County Junior Fair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Vinton County Community Fund raising funds to support 2026 Fair to Family<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>McARTHUR, Ohio<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Vinton County Community Fund (VCCF) is bringing its <a href=\"https:\/\/appalachianohio.org\/vinton\/opportunities\/fair-to-family\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fair to Family campaign<\/a> back to the Vinton County Junior Fair and rallying the community to fight local hunger \u2013 one pound at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The campaign invites buyers at the fair\u2019s July 31 junior livestock sale to donate their hog and steer purchases to stock the freezers of the St. Francis Evangelization Center\u2019s food pantry and others to donate money to cover the meat processing costs. Sixteen hogs and three steers were donated during the 2025 campaign, generating over 5,200 pounds of locally raised protein to feed Vinton County residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThanks to Vinton County\u2019s giving spirit, Fair to Family has more than doubled its impact in the past three years alone,\u201d said Ashley Ervin, VCCF committee member. \u201cThat success depends not only on those who donate livestock but also those who contribute to help pay for the meat processing costs. Every gift and act of generosity translates to nutritious protein for our neighbors who need it most.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Fair to Family campaign, which was started in 2019 by Vinton County educator Megan Macke, has been a key initiative for VCCF, an affiliate foundation partner of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO), for the past four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The campaign is held in partnership with the Vinton County Junior Fair Board, local 4-H and FFA members, meat processors and the food pantry at the St. Francis Evangelization Center in McArthur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The NiSource Charitable Foundation and Columbia Gas have awarded FAO a Columbia Promise Fund grant to support several campaigns aimed at fighting hunger across the region. In Vinton County, support from the Columbia Promise Fund award will enable an innovative strategy to grow Fair to Family\u2019s impact by establishing an endowed matching campaign to build sustainable financial support for this hunger-relief program. Additional details about the matching opportunity will be announced by VCCF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The meat donated through Fair to Family helps individuals and families in Vinton County, where more than 18 percent of the population experiences food insecurity, as well as those striving to fill that need. The Southeast Ohio Foodbank, which serves food pantries in 10 Appalachian Ohio counties including the St. Francis Evangelization Center\u2019s food pantry, reports that only 12 percent of the commodities it receives and distributes is perishable protein like frozen meat, poultry and seafood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VCCF is one of a growing number of FAO affiliate foundation partners spearheading or supporting campaigns similar to Fair to Family. In 2025 alone, more than 33,000 pounds of fresh, local protein \u2013 one of the most expensive staples for both families stretched thin and the food pantries that serve them \u2013 were donated through these programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vinton County Community Fund raising funds to support 2026 Fair to Family McARTHUR, Ohio\u00a0\u2013 The Vinton County Community Fund (VCCF) is bringing its Fair to Family campaign back to the Vinton County Junior Fair and rallying the community to fight local hunger \u2013 one pound at a time. The campaign invites buyers at the fair\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"10,11,12,51,53,56","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,3],"class_list":["post-341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-impact-news","category-vinton"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Campaign to fight local hunger returns 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