Yadkin Riverkeeper (YRK) with support from the Wallace and Graham Gives Foundation and the Waterkeeper Alliance's Pure Farms, Pure Water campaign, will be providing sustainably raised BBQ pork and chicken from Crossings Farm in Lexington to Lutheran Services Carolinas. Lutheran Services Carolinas will distribute the BBQ to frontline caregivers serving the elderly and homebound Covid-19 patients on December 12.
Due to the ongoing increase in Covid-19 cases, YRK decided to change its plans to a hold a “Pig Pickin' Pickup” fundraiser scheduled for December 12. “We are grateful to the Wallace and Graham Gives Foundation for its sponsorship, which will assist YRK in meeting its fundraising goals, while also providing healthy, river-friendly pork and chicken to those working on the frontlines during the pandemic,” said Edgar Miller, YRK’s executive director.
Wallace and Graham is a leading law firm in Rowan County and North Carolina that has been at the forefront of representing families and people of color who have been impacted by large industrial hog operations in eastern North Carolina. Whitney Wallace Williams, attorney and chair of the Wallace & Graham Gives Foundation, noted, “Our firm is honored to support Yadkin Riverkeeper in its efforts to protect and monitor the public waterways of our region that supply drinking water to nearly one million citizens. Combined with its support of sustainable agriculture and farming, YRK is well-aligned with our law firm’s environmental values and practice. We thank YRK sincerely for the critical protection and advocacy it provides to our region.”
YRK also wants to thank the Waterkeeeper Alliance's NC Pure Farms, Pure Water (PFPW) campaign for providing the resources to pay the farmers market value for their sustainably raised pork and chicken, which will be expertly cooked by Shakerag BBQ. YRK is working with small sustainable livestock farms to implement river-friendly best management practices to provide an alternative to industrial scale concentrated animal feeding operations or "CAFOs." “Being able to support small, sustainable family farms by direct purchases, is one way our organization can help ensure those farms can grow and prosper,” said YRK Riverkeeper, Brian Fannon.”
"As a landowner along the South Yadkin River, I am keenly aware of the important work the Yadkin Riverkeeper does to monitor and protect water quality throughout the Yadkin River basin," said Joe Morris, a Yadkin Riverkeeper board member. "We are fortunate to have committed sponsorships from advocates and allies, such as Wallace and Graham, supporting this important work. This sustainably produced food will be skillfully wood smoked in the well-known tradition of Piedmont NC by Shakerag BBQ. The fact that it will serve caregivers working at the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis gives a special satisfaction to our efforts."
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