Farmers Feeding Utah partners with UPA to help Uinta Basin families

The Utah Farm Bureau’s Farmers Feeding Utah campaign, in partnership with the Utah Petroleum Associations has conducted its latest project to assist farmers and families in rural Utah.  The Uinta Basin Miracle Project took place recently in Vernal. In addition to the project’s food distribution, the event 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 frontlines of the pandemic since February and have seen first-hand 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.”

“As this campaign works to help sustain farmers and families in need, it is great to find local partners that want to help in their community,” said Ron Gibson, president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation. “The energy industry is a big employer in eastern Utah, and they’ve been impacted by this pandemic as much as anyone. We’re happy to be able to partner with these energy companies in helping give back to their community in this time of need.”

To date, the Farmers Feeding Utah campaign has raised more than $560,000 in donations from individuals and businesses and provided approximately 500,000 pounds of food, with a retail value of more than $650,000, to Utah residents in the Navajo Nation, northern Utah, West Salt Lake, Ogden and to smaller community pantries throughout the Wasatch Front, Gibson said.

Farmers Feeding Utah is a campaign of the Miracle of Agriculture Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that was set up as the charitable arm of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation. Additional logistical and in-kind support has come from partners, including Utah State University and its Hunger Solutions Institute.