His Hands Food Pantry- Oran, IA>
On September 12th, Cactus Cares was thrilled to make its first meat donation to His Hands Food Pantry in Oran, Iowa, and the contribution consisted of 200 pounds of ground pork to the local food pantry.
“Thank you to DA Pork for reaching out to Cactus Cares and connecting us with His Hands Food Pantry in Oran,” said Wayne Craig, Executive Director of Cactus Cares. “We couldn’t do the work we do without people like them helping us build connections in our communities.” DA Pork is a contract grower for Cactus Family Farms. DA Pork is an entity owned by six siblings who grew up on a farm near Readlyn. They built a site with Cactus Family Farms and are working together to build on their farming roots to help feed the world. “This Cactus Cares program is really just an extension of farming for us and a way for our family to help give back,” said Kurt Leistikow, one of the six sibling owners of DA Pork.
All meat donated to His Hands Food Pantry was purchased from Iowa State University’s on-campus Meat Laboratory. “Thank you to the ISU Meat Science Department for their continued partnership with our P.O.W.E.R. program,” said Shelby Padgett, Director of Programming for Cactus Cares. “They are an essential partner for us as we donate meat to food pantries across Iowa. Without their hard work and dedication to our program, Cactus Cares would not be where we are today.” The Cactus Cares P.O.W.E.R. (Protein Outreach With Educational Resources) Program currently has partnerships with nine universities across the country. Since 2020, the P.O.W.E.R. program has donated over 430,000 servings to help fight food insecurity.