Oklahoma Pork Supports Extreme Makeover Home Edition

With only four days to renovate a deserving Oklahoma family’s home, hundreds of crew members and volunteers who worked around the clock recently at the “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” site near Lexington, Okla., were able to recharge with a free pork dinner, thanks to Oklahoma Pork Council (OPC).

“The amount of food it takes to feed everyone involved in a project like this is out of this world, and we were glad to help,” says Roy Lee Lindsey, executive director of the OPC, which served 471 smoked pork loin sandwiches from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. one evening.

This fits with a guiding principle of the pork industry’s We Care program, which encourages producers to contribute to a better quality of life in our communities, Lindsey says. “Also, it was a privilege for us to assist a worthy Oklahoma family who has been involved in agriculture for a long time.”

The We Care responsible pork initiative is a joint effort of the Pork Checkoff through the National Pork Board, and the National Pork Producers Council, to help demonstrate that producers are accountable to established ethical principles and animal well-being practices. We Care defines the industry’s core values and offers a way to build trust with consumers.

In addition to serving free pork sandwiches at a VIP tent in front of the house, the OPC was recognized as a project sponsor with Ideal Homes of Oklahoma, which played a key role in the renovation project. The extreme home makeover benefited Brian and Audra Skaggs, whose infant son required a heart transplant recently.

“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it couldn’t have happened to a better family,” says Mark McGinnis, OPC’s community outreach specialist.

Unfortunately, the renovation project was complicated by a severe winter storm that hit the area shortly before the work commenced. Then a rainstorm turned the Skaggs’ property into a muddy quagmire as the organized chaos of the extreme makeover process began.

“While it was raining the whole time we were serving the pork sandwiches, the electricians, plumbers, carpenters and other volunteers never quit working,” McGinnis says. “Although this was a very trying time for the crew, everyone was very appreciative of Oklahoma pork producers’ contribution.”