Agricultural News
OYE Announces Plan to Help Wildfire Impacted Families with Youth Who Show Livestock
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 06:58:48 CDT
The staff and Board of the Oklahoma Youth Expo wanted to help. In looking for ideas of how to help those families hit hard by the wildfires of a week ago, the OYE was approached by State Senator Eddie Fields, whose family shows at the event. Senator Fields told them that he and his family had decided they wanted to donate one of the their show steers to the Show if they would be willing to auction it off on Friday during the Sale of Champions with the money going to families that lost some or all of their ranch during the wildfires of this month.
Tyler Norvell told Ron Hays with the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network that OYE was really excited about the prospects of raising money with this calf for those families- they accepted the Fields family offer and that he immediately got on the phone and received a $10,000 challenge from four energy companies in the state- match the money with other donations and the $10,000 would be given to the fundraiser. The companies who offered the "seed" money include Devon, Chesapeake, Newfield and Cimarex. After OYE announced the plan on Tuesday evening, just ahead of the annual Legislative and Celebrity Showmanship Contest, the Coalition of Surface and Mineral Owners in Oklahoma pledged to match the $10,000.
OYE Board Member Jimmy Harrell of the Bank of Western Oklahoma told Hays that he wants to go well beyond that $20,000 level as the need for the families is great.
Norvell says of how the proceeds will be used once collected- "take it in- take requests from the students and families that were affected by the wildfires that show at OYE and distribute that money amongst them." He adds that financial burden in the days ahead will be enormous among the families that have lost cattle, outbuildings, farm equipment, fences and more from these fires- the money raised will make sure that family members who want to show this next year at OYE and local livestock shows will be able to withouy draining resources needed to rebuild their ranches and lives.
If you want to help and add to the bid for the donated steer, contact Tyler Norvell by emailing him at this link tyler@okyouthexpo.org - or you can call Ron Hays at 405-473-6144 and he will get your pledge to the OYE officials. Norvell says no contribution is too larger or too small- all will help to make a difference.
You can click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear from Tyler Norvell about this plan to help those hit hard by the March wildfires by the OYE family.
Our Coverage of the 2017 Oklahoma Youth Expo is a service of ITC Great Plains, Your Energy Superhighway- learn more about this high voltage, transmission only utility and their commitment to the communities they serve which is the cornerstone of their business-click here for their website. We also salute the title sponsor of the 2017 OYE, McDonalds- click here for more information about how McDonalds sources USDA inspected beef from US ranchers- as well as the other responsibly grown food you enjoy under the Golden Arches.
Reports will be heard daily on great radio stations that cover Oklahoma and that are a part of the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network- on the internet- our reports of the 2017 OYE can be found on the Blue Green Gazette page- available here. We will be adding pictures daily to our official 2017 OYE Album of Photos on FLICKR, found here.
For more information about the Oklahoma Youth Expo, click here for the home page of the OYE website.
Click here for the complete schedule of all of the events at the 2017 Oklahoma Youth Expo.
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