UTICA — The Knox County Fair will participate in the Fight the Hunger, Stock the Trailer contest, a youth-led statewide effort to fight hunger and give back to local community food banks.
Farm Credit Mid-America presents the contest; Rural 1st®sponsors it.
This friendly competition among Ohio county fairs encourages youth leaders to collaborate with their local community to collect food donations for local food banks throughout their county fair.
Since launching in 2021, Ohio junior fair boards have used creative tactics and impressive fundraising efforts to increase food donations year after year.
“We’re glad to bring this initiative back to county fairs across Ohio and to see young people step up and get their communities involved,” said Bob Siegel, regional vice president of agricultural lending at Farm Credit Mid-America.
“The Knox County Fair brings people together, and this contest gives folks a simple way to come alongside a cause that supports neighbors right here at home. In the end, our communities are the ones who benefit most.”
A record-breaking 2025
Since its inception, the annual contest has collected and donated more than 1 million pounds of food in Indiana and Ohio.
In 2025, 4H leaders across Ohio collected a record-breaking 448,827 pounds of food for more than 60 food banks statewide.
This marked the fourth consecutive year of record donations– with a 57% increase over 2024’s total of 286,000 pounds.
Ross County was the overall state winner, collecting 122,640 pounds of food for Brookside Church and Good Samaritan Food Pantry.
In addition to the food collected, Farm Credit Mid-America donated $500 to each fair board that participated and additional money to the winners in each region. That totaled $63,000 to junior fair boards across Ohio.
Fight the Hunger, Stock the Trailer is one way Farm Credit Mid-America and its consumer lending brand, Rural 1st , invest in rural communities and agriculture.
In 2025, the association contributed more than $4 million to programs, including $1.59 million for youth, college students, and young and beginning farmers.
Knox Community Hospital proudly supports the vibrant pulse of our community by sponsoring the Life & Culture section on Knox Pages, celebrating the stories and experiences that make our region unique.