Organization received the 2016 Paul Mistele Memorial
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) received the 2016 Paul Mistele Memorial Award from the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) for creating the CFO Cares Food Bank Donation Program.
Since the program’s inception last March, nearly 300 chicken farms have signed up to donate chicken. Collectively, they’ve donated more than 175,000kg of fresh chicken to local food banks.
"Farmers care about their communities and the success of this program indicates the importance they place on being able to donate the food that they grow on their farms to their local community food banks,” Henry Zantingh, chair of CFO, said in a release. "Chicken Farmers of Ontario is very pleased to be working in partnership with the Ontario Association of Food Banks to ensure that Ontarians in need have access to a regular supply of healthy, locally grown chicken.”
More than 80 communities have benefited from CFO’s chicken donations, and the award is a small way to thank chicken farmers for their generosity.
"There are no words to express our gratitude for the Chicken Farmers of Ontario and its creation of the CFO Cares Food Bank Donation Program," Carolyn Stewart, executive director of the OAFB, said in a release.
The Paul Mistele Memorial Award is named after the man who funded Ontario Pork’s Donate-A-Hog program in 1998. It’s given to those who show a commitment to ending hunger in Ontario.
Other winners include Beef Farmers of Ontario, Turkey Farmers of Ontario, Egg Farmers of Ontario and Dairy Farmers of Ontario.