Juniors’ food drive was huge; Land O’Lakes helped

The Pennsylvania Junior Holstein Association’s first annual food drive was a huge success, with donations amounting to far more than anyone had imagined. To make it interesting and competitive, each county group was challenged  to rise to the occasion. On Friday night, this group from Lancaster Countywas virtually last, but for the final tally some 24 hours later, they came from behind, finishing ahead of the second-place team with plenty to spare by a score of 1069 items vs. 372 items. Food Drive Chairman Corbin Wood, above left, extends his congratulations to the winning group.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Junior Holstein Association “Food Drive-Youth Helping Others” was a tremendous success. Junior members from over 20 counties who attended the 2012 Junior Holstein Convention in Gettysburg brought in over 3000 canned goods and non-perishable food items for the Littlestown Food Pantry.

This new public service project was initiated and coordinated by junior member Corbin Wood.  Land O'Lakes was a primary partner in this undertaking as they offered a matching donation of $5000 to the food bank towards the purchase of dairy products like cheese and butter. The effort from Land O' Lakes was coordinated by John Hess, Land O'Lakes district delegate and Lori Connelly, Land O'Lakes public relations director.

The monetary support from Land O'Lakes was the largest single monetary donation that the Littlestown Food Pantry has ever received in its 25-year history, enabling the food bank to assist 65 families for one year according to Pat Martin, food pantry coordinator. It also matches the entire state government funding that she received last year to feed her local area food bank recipients.

Pat Martin thanked the Junior Holstein Association for their enthusiastic support of this first-time project and indicated how very appreciative the food pantry was to be considered and used as a recipient of this generous amount of food. Pat could only again say a big thank you to all the youth who made the effort to help others with their food needs.

Awards were presented by Penn-Gate Farms to the top three counties that donated food, namely Lancaster, Berks, and Snyder counties. “All youths are to be commended for their support of this new convention service project and helping those less fortunate in their time of need,” commented Corbin.