Friday, July 30, 2010
|
|
|
| 5/19/2009 1:20:00 PM |
Email this article • Print this article |
Dinner raises money for Ham, Bacon & Egg Program
Justin Waybright
For The Cabell Standard
MILTON - For more than two decades area students in FFA and 4-H have learned valuable skills in the county's Ham, Bacon and Egg Program.
From creating business plans, raising hogs and curing meat, these young adults start with an agricultural project and end with a product purchased by the consumer.
Former 4-H member Thelma Stickler has been helping organize fundraisers for the Ham, Bacon and Egg Program (HBEP) for close to a year.
The kids who are involved keep an inerasable smile on her face.
However, these days, Stickler isn't happy.
A change in state Department of Agriculture guidelines regulating educational-based meat processing facilities means that the classroom the kids use must be updated to include meat processing.
The HBEP Cabell Midland facility does not have a meat processing operation, which means the meat has to be transported from an Ona meat processing plant.
If her kids cannot raise $380,000 by October, the Ham, Bacon and Egg Program will be no more.
"Unless we can get more support from grants and the community, I'm afraid October will come and go and the program will end," Stickler said Saturday night at a fund-raising dinner in Milton. "I would hate see this program end because of money."
Stickler and others on her volunteer committee are doing everything they can to keep it alive.
Saturday's dinner at Pumpkin Park in Milton was the latest in an effort to keep the program going.
In all 109 people attended Saturday's dinner and $1,333.50 was raised to help the HBEP.
Kids are pitching in with fundraisers; one or more every month.
"Whatever it takes" is Stickler's mindset.
"It's about the kids," she said during Saturday evening's fundraiser dinner. "They are excited to learn and participate, but now they're afraid."
Raising close to $400,000 in less than five months is no easy task.
Yet, Stickler remains hopeful. She believes in the program and its participants.
"They have already raised thousands through dinners like this and fundraisers," she said. "We started with nothing, and now it's growing."
Stickler said every little bit counts.
"If you have a child and want to donate even $5 - that would help a lot," she said. If you consume agricultural products, you should donate."
To help keep the program alive, call Thelma Stickler at 304-778-3783.
|
| |
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
|
|
