This is the 11th year the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation will be giving out free pork loins at 13 different Operation Christmas Meal locations across the state. The donations are meant to go to families who are not planning on a Christmas meal due to insufficient funds. “During an especially difficult time for families in need, Operation Christmas Meal helps create a happy holiday for all Iowans, no matter their circumstances or level of income,” says Iowa Select Farms Communication Director, Jen Sorenson. “The event is free and open to anyone in need.” More than one million Christmas meals have been provided to Iowa families through this initiative that has hundreds of Iowa Select Farms employees volunteering to brave the sometimes bitter weather to hand out the loins. This year Sac City has been included as one of the distribution locations for the five-days of donations that start Friday, Dec. 3 at 5 a.m. at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines and end on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. in the Bomgaars parking lot in Algona. Teams will begin giving out the pork loins at the Sac County Fairgrounds in Sac City on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 7 a.m. and will conclude the giveaway by 9 a.m. or when supplies run out. They will also be in Storm Lake, at the Upper Des Moines Opportunity building from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. that same Thursday. Other communities included in this year’s Operation Christmas Meal include: Creston, Osceola, Humeston, Ellsworth, Hampton, Osage, Aplington and Iowa Falls.
