Among those giving back to the hungry are shown in the photo. In front, from left, are Amber Zecca, Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry; Sarah Delbecq, Brechbill Farms; and Debra Treesh, Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry.
In back are: Dave Albright, Albright’s Quality Meets; Nolan Johnson, DeKalb County Farm Bureau; Derrick Stafford, Albright’s Quality Meets; and Tim Haynes, Haynes Dairy Farm.

By AMBER ZECCA
Hoosiers Feeding The Hungry

CORUNNA — Tim Haynes, a farmer in DeKalb County, recently noticed chicken prices seemed low. This made him think of all the people that are in need during this holiday season and how he could give back. Haynes was familiar with the Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry organization, which facilitates the processing and distribution of livestock and wild game donations in an effort to get protein to food banks, and decided to contact the Executive Director, Deb Treesh.

Treesh suggested they contact Albright’s One Stop grocery store in Corunna, to work out a plan for him to purchase 20 cases of chicken at a substantial discount to be donated to local hunger relief agencies.

While Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry was discussing the purchase of this “Community Chicken” with Albright’s, Haynes was contacting fellow farmers, county Farm Bureaus, ag groups and local businesses to see if they would also like to contribute. As a result, $12,000 was collected and given to Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry to purchase 38,400 pounds, a semi-truckload, of chicken.

The chicken was given to Community Harvest Food Bank to be distributed to local pantries, soup kitchens, churches, etc., within their coverage area based on where the contributions originated. In the end, this donation reached 10 counties in Northeast Indiana — Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wells and Whitley.

Among those who made it happen: Ag One Agency, Allen County Farm Bureau, Alliance Agra, Aschleman Farms, Eric Aschleman, Dean Berning, Bob Bishop, Brechbill Farms, Inc., Community State Bank, Keith Conrad, Custer Grain, DeKalb County Farm Bureau, DeKalb High School FFA, Farm Credit Mid-America, Fry Farms, G&K Concepts, Garrett State Bank, GeoSilos, GreenMark Equipment, Jan Hartman, Haynes Dairy Farm/Beck’s Hybrids, Horizon Bank, Huntington County Farm Bureau, Nolan Johnson, Kosciusko County Farm Bureau, Kummer Farms, LaGrange County Farm Bureau, LaOtto Excavating, Noble County Farm Bureau, North Central Cooperative, Barry Smith, Steuben County Farm Bureau, Stoy Farms, The Andersons, Thrush Farms, Tri-State Grower Supply, Troxel Equipment, Truelove Brothers Farm Machinery, Walker Farms, Westview Junior-Senior High, Whiteshire Hamroc, and Whitley County Farm Bureau.

For more information on the Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry organization and its services, visit us at www.HoosiersFeedingtheHungry.org, or contact us at (260) 541-0365.