Not only does a blue and gold corduroy jacket represent leadership and hard work, it acknowledges a commitment to care for the land and animals that feed us. The okPORK team spent May 1 and 2 among these great Oklahoma FFA students proudly parading their “Blue and Gold”.

“Spending time with our youth, especially FFA kids is one of my favorite things about okPORK,” said Lindsay Henricks, okPORK communications specialist. “I love hearing about their projects and seeing them make a difference in the agricultural industry at such a young age.”

okPORK’s support of FFA at their state convention spanned many activities. Even though we did not have a booth at this year’s Career Fair, we again sponsored the award for the Swine Production Placement winner and the award and scholarship for the Swine Production - Entrepreneurship award. We also had the opportunity address the FFA chapters who donated animals to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma to be protein sticks for their student backpack program.

Nikki Snider and Henricks represented okPORK at the Awards and Stars Luncheon. They had the opportunity to meet all of the finalist for the Swine Production Placement and Swine Production Entrepreneurship awards, give them congratulations, take a photo with them and watch them walk across the stage to receive their awards.

“This was okPORK’s first year to sponsor the swine production entrepreneurship scholarship,” said Roy Lee Lindsey, okPORK executive director. “The finalists for the entrepreneurship award are top notch and we wanted to increase our recognition of them to match their accomplishments.”

At the Hunger Challenge Reception, Snider was able to deliver congratulatory remarks to the FFA chapters who generously donated swine and beef projects to Oklahoma’s Food Banks. It was a large crowd since 231 chapters donated 588 animals last year. They also donated $5,337 in cash to the food banks. This allowed the food banks to distribute more than 1 million sticks to Oklahoma’s hungry kids through their weekend backpack programs.

“It was especially gratifying to address FFA students at the Hunger Challenge reception because Oklahoma kids giving back to other Oklahoma kids who are in need is so inspiring,” Snider said.

okPORK’s involvement in FFA Convention is all about those kids in the blue and gold. We do this for them – so they’ll have great opportunities as they launch in to the world of agriculture.

Lindsay Henricks and Nikki Snider grab a quick “selfie” with the award winners before they go on stage!