Back again for 2024, the Oklahoma Pork Council made sure that our fantastic 4-H and FFA swine enthusiasts received a hands-on invitation to participate in the Give-A-Ham Challenge. Just this afternoon, dozens of people joined us to volunteer at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (RFBO) to pack meals and celebrate pork producers' special $10,000 donation to the Pork for Packs Program.

These volunteers packed meals for RFBO's Backpacks Program - which is affiliated with our industry's Pork for Packs initiative. Pork for Packs utilizes donated hogs from Oklahoma 4-H and FFA members to create protein sticks for elementary students at risk of hunger. The pork sticks are distributed within the Backpacks Program to meet a real need by supplementing protein on weekends and holidays when school feeding programs are unavailable. Between the Regional Food Bank and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, the program serves 596 schools in all 77 Oklahoma counties, providing backpacks of kid-friendly, non-perishable food to more than 35,000 chronically hungry children each week.

While these 145 excited young people came together to pack meals, the Oklahoma Pork Council also took the opportunity to celebrate our board donating $10,000 this December to help cover processing costs of Pork for Packs donated animals. After Oklahoma Pork hit an impressive $200,000 lifetime giving mark to the Regional Food Bank in 2023, we are proud to continue celebrating the generosity of pig farmers and a strong partnership with our state food banks!