Wegmans to Buy Steer from Fair, Donate it to Food Bank

Wegmans is planning to buy a steer from the 4H kids at the Howard County Fair Friday evening, have it processed, and then donate the meat to the Howard County Food Bank, according to a Wegmans spokesperson.

“This is a great way to give twice,” said Wendy Webster, store manager for . “We get to lend a hand to our local food bank and support the 4H kids who learn so much raising livestock.”

Bita Dayhoff, the president of the Howard County Community Action Council, which runs the food bank, said the food bank lost a significant amount of produce and meat products after they lost power for three days in the recent power outages.

“This is Wegmans being an amazing community partner to us once again and stepping forward to fill the gap,” said Dayhoff.

A Wegmans spokesperson wrote in an email to Patch that this is not something Wegmans routinely does in other areas. The spokesperson said it developed from the close partnership between Wegmans Columbia and the Howard County Food Bank.

Dayhoff said Wegmans donated 18,000 pounds of food to the Howard County food bank when the grocery store first opened in June. After that, Dayhoff said food bank volunteers and workers continue to go to Wegmans three times per week to pick up donations.

As for the meat from the cow, Dayhoff said the approximately 500 to 700 pounds of fresh beef would be distributed to their participating pantries across the county.

“I’m sure it’s going to generate a lot of excitement,” said Dayhoff. “We normally don’t have a lot of beef to provide to our clients, so this is going to be wonderful.”

The livestock auction is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD.

Dayhoff wrote in an email that the number of individuals served at the food bank has grown significantly in the last four years. She wrote that in Fiscal Year 2008 the food bank served about 3,500 people compared to 21,000 in FY 2012. 

“One of the reasons for our growth is because we have undertaken the effort the let families know we are here if they need us,” wrote Dayhoff. “We are here to serve and don’t want anyone in Howard County to go without food.”

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