4-H’ers collect food for food banks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Indiana 4-H youth collected more than 181,000 pounds of food for 52 local food banks this summer through the Fight the Hunger, Stock the Trailer competition.

The statewide effort included 40 county fairs, with LaPorte County taking the top spot after collecting 23,246 pounds. The program was presented by Farm Credit Mid-America and sponsored by Rural 1st.

“More than 1 million Hoosiers face hunger, according to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study,” said Natasha Cox, Farm Credit Mid-America’s senior vice president of agricultural lending in Indiana.

“Seeing Indiana youth rally their communities to help address that challenge is a powerful example of neighbors supporting neighbors.”

Each participating junior county fair board received $500 to put toward its activities, while the top three fairs in each of five regions received additional funding.

First-place fairs received $5,000, second-place fairs received $2,500 and third-place fairs received $1,000.

The regional winners are:

West-Central Indiana

61,392 pounds of food

• First Place: Miami County Fair — 18,298 pounds.

• Second Place: Howard County Fair — 10,446 pounds.

• Third Place: Benton County Fair — 7,760 pounds.

Northern Indiana

39,406 pounds of food

• First Place: LaPorte County Fair — 23,246 pounds.

• Second Place: Lake County Fair — 8,660 pounds.

• Third Place: Fulton County Fair — 5,780 pounds.

Southeast Indiana

39,189 pounds of food

• First Place: Jackson County Fair — 14,934 pounds.

• Second Place: Harrison County Fair — 6,920 pounds.

• Third Place: Clark County Fair — 3,010 pounds.

Southwest Indiana

25,865 pounds of food

• First Place: Monroe County Fair — 9,439 pounds.

• Second Place: Morgan County Fair — 4,520 pounds.

• Third Place: Putnam County Fair — 3,880 pounds.

East-Central Indiana

15,300 pounds of food

• First Place: Wabash County Fair — 8,416 pounds.

• Second Place: Wells County Fair — 4,544 pounds.

• Third Place: Huntington County Fair — 1,740 pounds.