In the wake of the recent tornado outbreak that struck the eastern side of our state, the Oklahoma Pork Council board and staff along with local pig farmers mobilized swiftly to aid affected communities. Below is a summary of our storm response efforts.
Marietta: Oklahoma Pork President-Elect Joe Locke fired up the Oklahoma Pork smoker to prepare and serve pork meals for his hometown of Marietta. Starting on Sunday at noon, Joe cooked tirelessly into Monday providing much-needed warm meals to residents following the Marietta tornado. Click here for Governor Stitt, Senator Lankford and FEMA's look at the Marietta tornado damage.
Holdenville: Oklahoma Pork Council Board of Directors Rich Robinson and Angie Johnson collaborated on a free pork lunch for the Holdenville community on Monday. Some pig farms in the Holdenville area experienced structural damage from the tornado. Click here to watch New 6's coverage titled "You Rebuild and You Stay": Holdenville Community Rallies After Tornado Hits.
Sulphur: Recognizing Sulphur as one of the hardest-hit communities in the state, Oklahoma Pork collaborated with Operation BBQ Relief to provide a free pork lunch on Tuesday. But, we did not stop there. Understanding the ongoing need, Oklahoma Pork arranged for additional support by securing a refrigerated truck from the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma to stay in Sulphur for the week, and specifically routed a Ben E. Keith truck to the Sulphur Walmart parking lot with 10 cases of pork loins and 10 cases of pork butts resulting in thousands of additional pork meals being prepared by Operation BBQ Relief for the Sulphur community starting with dinner on Tuesday night through Friday. Oklahoma Pork's Shay Stegmann captured photos of the Sulphur tornado damage and has uploaded them to Oklahoma's new digital asset platform for you to see the heartbreaking tornado damage here.
A sincere thank you to Oklahoma Pork's board and staff team for swift action and commitment to helping those in need. We continue to extend our thoughts and prayers to all impacted by the storms. If you know someone in need, please encourage them to fill out our request for support form so we can connect them with the appropriate resources.