4-H Swiners Design Community Project to Feed the Hungry
Cumberland County 4-H Swiners Adam Dale, Caleb McGrath-Holmquist and Katie McGrath-Holmquist are raising funds to donate to the Gray and New Gloucester Food Pantries. Their plan is to purchase four market hogs and two market lambs from the Cumberland Fair 4-H Livestock Auction to give to the pantries. The auction will be held Wednesday, September 28th, at 4 p.m. at the Cumberland Fairgrounds, 197 Blanchard Road in Cumberland.
Adam, Caleb, and Katie are all long-time members of the Cumberland County 4-H Swiners and 4-H Sheep club, who raise market hogs and lambs to be sold annually at the Cumberland Fair.
This year in addition to raising their own animals and soliciting buyers for those animals, the trio will participate in their self-designed community service project to benefit both 4-H’ers and their local food pantries. The goal is to raise enough money for the Gray and New Gloucester Food Pantries to purchase four market hogs and two market lambs at the 4-H Auction. Adam, Caleb and Katie will need to raise $5,000 by September 28th.
Meat is one of the more expensive items for food insecure members of our community. Access to fresh pork and lamb from local sources may be a win-win-win for these food pantries, 4-H members, and the entire local food system.
The Gray Community Food Pantry serves 40-70 families with emergency and home deliveries. Approximately fifteen percent of their clients are elderly seniors living on a fixed income. Another thirty percent are children.
The New Gloucester Food Pantry provides food for an average of twenty-two families each distribution day. Over the course of a year, as many as seventy families are served.
Donations are being collected through UMaine Extension, who manages 4-H program in Maine. Send donations of any amount to UMaine Extension Cumberland County, Attn: Sara Conant, 75 Clearwater Dr. Ste. 104, Falmouth, ME 04105. Checks can be made payable to: GNG 4-H Food Pantry Project.
For more information, call 207-781-6099 or email sara.conant@maine.edu.
