THANKS to Rachel Kemble for volunteering her time and talents in photographing this event.
This past Thursday, Colorado egg farmers and students hopped to help those in need by donating more than 250,000 eggs to FBR and other Colorado food banks. Colorado Chefs and Commissioner of Agriculture, John Salazar, flipped and served omelets to honor Newlon Elementary Students who also enjoyed a visit from the Easter Bunny.
Colorado egg farmers were proud to help the Easter Bunny this year. As a part of the Good Egg Project, the seven local farms that make up the Colorado Egg Producers (CEP) Association donated more than 250,000 eggs to Feeding Colorado food banks throughout the state to ensure those in need will have eggs in time for Easter. Of the total number of eggs, more than 200,000 were given to FBR.
Colorado elementary schools also joined in this year as part of CEP’s Kids Who Egg-cell initiative, encouraging students to learn about eggs and give back to the community. For every student who completed an egg quiz, one egg was donated to FBR, adding nearly 700 eggs to CEP’s donation.
The Easter Bunny made a special appearance during the event, where chefs with the American Culinary Federation Colorado Chefs Association (ACFCCA) and Commissioner of Agriculture, John Salazar, flipped and served omelets to honor Newlon Elementary students.
“On behalf of Colorado egg farmers, I am proud to recognize and honor the second and fifth graders from Newlon Elementary for their dedication to the community. Together the students made the largest school contribution this year, adding more than 200 eggs to our annual Easter donation,” said Jerry Wilkins, president of the Colorado Egg Producers Association. “These students are learning the value of giving back to the those in need at a young age. Giving back is also something we, as Colorado egg farmers, pride ourselves in as illustrated by our ongoing commitment to the Good Egg Project and our regular donations of eggs to food banks throughout the state.”
“The need for food assistance in our state continues to grow and this donation will certainly be a tremendous help for those who are working hard to make ends meet,” said Kevin Seggelke, Food Bank of the Rockies president and CEO. “Eggs are an important staple in the American diet, but they are also one of the hardest foods for us to obtain. We would like to thank Colorado egg farmers, Newlon students and other participating elementary schools for this generous gift. At two eggs per person, this donation helped put high quality, wholesome and fresh eggs on the plates of more than 125,000 Coloradans this Easter.”
For the fifth year in a row, Colorado Egg Producers and Feeding Colorado have teamed up to support local food banks and feed the state’s hungry. This partnership in Colorado and throughout the country will help the more than 730,000 people who are at risk of hunger in Colorado. CEP’s donation of 250,000 eggs was divided among five food banks – Food Bank of the Rockies in Denver, Food Bank of the Rockies Western Slope, Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado, Weld Food Bank in Greeley and Food Bank for Larimer County.
FOX 31’s Dan Daru did a great story (2nd year running)! Check out the video below…our recap of the action packed morning.