CORN FARMERS FEEDING THE HUNGRY, DONATE PORK TO MIDWEST FOODBANK

Lindsay Mitchell

Dec 06, 2018  |  Today's News |  Livestock |  Public Outreach

Illinois corn farmers, together with farmer leaders from the Illinois Pork Producers Association and Illinois Soybean Association donated 10,000 pounds of pork to the Midwest Foodbank last week.

 

This gift is part of a larger donation from the Pork Power program, who this year set a record and donated over 80,000 pounds of pork to Illinois food banks.

 

In 2008, IPPA launched Pork Power with the goal of helping fight hunger in Illinois.  It provides a system for farmers to donate pork to food banks throughout Illinois. 

 

In this 10th year of the program, Pork Power is celebrating the donation of over 625,000 pounds of pork - enough for nearly 2.4 million meals - for families throughout Illinois.

 

Farmers and partnering commodity groups give pork and monetary donations all year round. At the end of each giving season, IPPA turns the remaining funds into ground pork and divides it among the regional food banks in the state.

 

The donation last week was to the Midwest Food Bank, a food distribution center started by a farm family in McLean County.  Now, the Midwest Food Bank currently distributes over $11.5 million worth of food to over 1,400 non-profit organizations each month. This is done from our nine locations in Illinois, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, East Africa, and Haiti.

 

Tune into the IL Corn Facebook account to see a live video of this record-setting 2018 donation and all the other fun projects our farmers are involved in!