On Friday, October 23rd the Pork For The Pantry program was continued for another year in Highland County as five community partners made another donation of fresh pork product to the Word of Faith Food Pantry in Monterey.
Each year since 2017 Rockingham Cooperative has partnered with several community partners to conduct the Pork For The Pantry program in Highland. Typically the program aims at supporting the hardworking 4-H/FFA youth livestock exhibitors and those less fortunate in our community as part of this program. This year, with a lack of available slaughter dates at local processing facilities the program still wanted to accomplish a portion of its mission – supporting those in need.
So, while the below community businesses continued to support their local 4-H/FFA youth livestock exhibitors at the county fair, and associated sale, they also stepped up to make an additional contribution to the food pantry in Monterey, Virginia this fall. Five-Hundred & Fifty pound of pork sausage and sliced pork chops were donated, in two separate donation days, to the Word of Faith Food Pantry in Monterey by Rockingham Cooperative, Summit Community Bank, Dancon, Inc., Liberty Farm LLC, & Beverage Construction. 
Pork For The Pantry has been in existence, spearheaded by Rockingham Cooperative and its Store Manager – Mike Hilbert, in Highland County since 2017 after the program was started in Rockingham County by the cooperative in 2016 to aid the West Virginia flood victims during that year. Rockingham Cooperative has proudly partnered with Summit Community Bank & Dancon Inc since the first year of the program’s existence in Highland.
Rockingham Cooperative, and its continually growing list of partners, looks forward to continuing the program in 2021 as it was originally designed – by purchasing local hogs during the Highland County Fair and donating the resources from them to the local food pantry. If your business or organization in Highland would like to join the list of partners for 2021 reach out to Mike Hilbert at (540)468-2450.
