By The Utah Petroleum Association
Farmers Feeding Utah partnered with the Utah Petroleum Association to offer much-needed assistance to farmers and families in rural Utah. The Miracle Project Uinta Basin event took place on Sep. 25 at the Western Park in Vernal. It included a check presentation from the state’s oil and gas sector to support Farmers Feeding Utah’s ongoing mission.
“Energy workers across Utah have been serving on the front lines of the pandemic since February and have seen firsthand the impacts in our rural communities,” said Utah Petroleum Association president Rikki Hrenko-Browning. “On behalf of our member companies, I am pleased to see our association partnering with Farmers Feeding Utah to make sure families in this community have the support and nutrition they need, and truly believe we will recover faster when we look out for one another.”
Thousands of individuals have lost employment and signed up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Utah, and many of them live in the Duchesne and Uintah counties. With the continued impact of the Coronavirus, these numbers continue to rise. With the decline in demand for fuel, many energy companies have been on hold – significantly impacting the many families working in that industry.
“More than six months into this devastating pandemic Utah’s farmers and families continue to feel the impact. The economy of eastern Utah and jobs in the energy sector have been hit especially hard, so we knew it was time to grow another miracle,” said Ron Gibson, President of the Utah Farm Bureau. “Utahns have been incredibly generous and stepped up to the challenge on our earlier projects, and I’m confident we’ll rise to meet this new one as well.”
Farmers Feeding Utah is a campaign of the Miracle of Agriculture Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization set up as the charitable arm of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation. Additional logistical and in-kind support has come from invaluable partners, including Utah State University (USU) and its Hunger Solutions Institute, the Utah Department of Agriculture & Food (UDAF), The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints and Farm Bureau Financial Services.
“By serving a community in the Uinta Basin, Farmers Feeding Utah is able to react quickly to the economic conditions in the area and connect families and individuals in need with healthy food choices from Utah farms,” said Heidi LeBlanc, Director of the Hunger Solutions Institute at USU. “Together Farm Bureau, Utah State University and other volunteers, partners and donors are inspiring public confidence and support in American agriculture and meeting hunger needs at the same time.”
“As harm drags on, more and more families need help – both our farm families and our neighbors struggling with food insecurity,” Gibson said. “With the help of donors and businesses, we’ve been able to rise to the challenge so far, but we need their help again now.”
Donations to the ‘Miracle of Agriculture Foundation’ for the Farmers Feeding Utah project are used to purchase, process, and deliver food to families in need, giving both struggling farmers and Utah families a hand up.
To date, the Farmers Feeding Utah campaign has raised more than $400,000 in donations from individuals and businesses and provided more than 500,000 lbs. of food, with a retail value of more than $500,000 to Utah residents in the Navajo Nation, northern Utah, West Salt Lake, Ogden and to smaller community pantries throughout the Wasatch Front.
To make a tax-deductible contribution to this project, individuals and businesses can go to FarmersFeedingUtah.org.
The Utah Petroleum Association
This story appears in Pub 2 2020-21 Issue 1 of the UPDATE Magazine.
