More than 6,000 pounds of meat donated to Feeding Medina County from Medina County Jr. Fair livestock sale

MEDINA — Buyers at this year's Medina County Junior Fair livestock sale donated more than 6,000 pounds of meat to Feeding Medina County. Fair Board Director Michael Gall said the end of the junior fair project for market animals is the livestock sale in which the animals are sold at auction. It took place at the fair on Aug. 2-3. At the sale, individuals and local businesses buy the animals and pay an additional processing fee, he said. Over the course of a day and a half, buyers spent $1.1 million across 840 lots this year, and the kids get the money from their sale. Buyers then have the option to donate the meat they purchased to nonprofits such as Feeding Medina County, Gall said. "It's the buyers that come and support all the kids, and then they continue with donating," he said. Feeding Medina County Executive Director Janet Newcomer said the nonprofit has received donations through the livestock sale for many years. Donations include pork and beef as well as chicken, turkey and duck. Feeding Medina County gives food to about 4,000 people every month through its programs, and it holds distributions every Thursday in different regions of the county, she said. The nonprofit intends to distribute its beef and pork donations during its Thursday distributions. "Our goal is to not just provide people with food but really to move into the realm of giving them groceries that they can prepare a meal with," Newcomer said. "For example, if we're distributing ground beef or ground pork, that would pair really well with pasta and pasta sauce. We're going to make sure that there are the ingredients for someone to prepare a meal." Poultry donations will be distributed in November for the holidays, she said. Until then, it will be stored in a large walk-in freezer, which can hold between 10,000 and 12,000 pounds of food. Donations from the livestock sale allow Feeding Medina County to use the resources it would have spent on protein to purchase food like fresh vegetables and dairy products, Newcomer said. The organization is working toward a goal of having fresh produce be 25 percent of the food distributed. "I think offering nutritious food really contributes to the overall health of the community," she said. "Proper nutrition is so important for healthy kids, healthy adults and chronic disease prevention and management." Newcomer said Feeding Medina County is grateful for the kids who do the projects and the buyers who decide to donate. "It's just really humbling to think that people care that much about the other residents of Medina County," she said. "We are the vehicle to make that connection happen." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.