Egg and produce items entered at the Lincoln County Fair for community booth judging can now be donated to the Afton Food Pantry immediately following the judging process. Growers who choose to donate their items receive a ribbon identifying their entry as a Grand Hunger Champion or Hunger Hero with the statement “Helping others is its own reward.”

Sierra Mitchell, Director of the Afton Food Pantry, described this new program as “a super unique partnership” in which growers can help feed members of the community by donating their fair entries to the pantry. With growers’ permission, the entries are taken immediately following judging and added to the food stores at the pantry where they are then distributed that week to local families who suffer from food insecurity.

Started in 2024, the program emerged from Mitchell’s observation that, following judging at the beginning of the fair week, food items were left in warm temperatures through the week on display in booths, and then discarded. “From a food bank perspective, that was devastating to see beautifully grown produce and farm fresh eggs get tossed because they just sit there all week. I had never volunteered before, and I thought, ‘surely we can do something different with this.’”

Mitchell determined that these items could be used by the pantry and took a proposal to the Lincoln County Fair Board in May of 2024. She asked the board to please consider allowing the pantry to take items immediately following judging and use them to feed members of the community. The board enthusiastically agreed to implement the program and items entered in the 2024 fair launched the new partnership.

As fair entries arrive on the first day of the fair for judging, growers are met by officials of the Food Pantry who invite them to donate their items following judging. While most of the items are taken to the pantry, one item from each entry is left in the booth for display with award ribbons and the Grand Hunger Champion Ribbon so that the grower’s work and reward is visible to the public for the week. “It has become very successful,” said Mitchell. “Almost every single person chooses to donate.”

All food banks throughout the county were invited to participate, but Afton is the only Lincoln County bank that uses the program at this time. Wyoming’s First Lady, Jennie Gordon, has embraced the program as well, encouraging counties throughout the state to adopt the practice. Her office has started providing the ribbons, which have the Wyoming Hunger Initiative platform logo on them. Literature from her office states, “County Fair horticulture exhibitors are joining the fight to end hunger.”

Produce and eggs from Lincoln County’s 2024 Fair fed 137 individuals and last year’s efforts fed 143 individuals with 32.5 dozen eggs and 22 pounds of fresh produce that had been gifted to the pantry through the program. “That’s a huge amount,” said Mitchell. “It’s not going to waste, which is so great. It’s going out to our patrons that following week and being used.”

The fair board also allots a half page in the fair books to promote the program. “The board has really become a true partner in this, so much so that it has caught wind across other counties and they are now using the program.”

“A lot of these things come from youth, and they are really excited to give back with something that they did. They grew the produce and took care of chickens and then prepared a display,” Mitchell shared. “As people walk through the community booth, they will see a different colored teal ribbon that lets people know that this person chose to take what they brought for judging and donate it to feed a family through the Afton Food Pantry. It’s become a beautiful partnership, just because people said, ‘yes.’”

Additionally, some food trucks that have provided food service at the fair have reached out to the Afton Food Pantry to donate their excess at the conclusion of the fair.

“We kind of love it,” said Mitchell, with a twinkle in her eye. “It’s been a unique avenue that we didn’t expect. It just happens once a year, but who doesn’t love a beautifully grown garden-fresh vegetable?”