More Than 600 Families Received a Suprise Gift in the Mail

posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2017

“We are a family of seven and we love pork, so you can be sure we will put it to good use,” said one recipient in a handwritten note back to us. “My eight year old daughter, Moriah,—who is our Children's Cancer Connection kiddo and future baker— sorted through every single recipe and her response was, ‘Mom! Some of these recipes looks awesome, especially the bacon pancake cupcakes!”

Another note came in from the mom of Elise, a brain stem cancer survivor, who said she had a ...family of eight. “We have a large grocery bill each week, we’ll definitely put the Pork Bucks to great use—we are so appreciative!”

Last week more than 600 families involved with Children’s Cancer Connection opened their mailboxes to find $40 in Pork Bucks and recipes cards —a special and surprise gift from their pork-loving friends at Iowa Select Farms and the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation.

“We’ve made it our mission to not only support these special families, but to cheer them on as much as we can,” said Jen Sorenson, communications director for Iowa Select Farms and the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation. “We’ve really gotten to know some amazing people through our partnership with Children’s Cancer Connection, we are continuously humbled by the bravery and resilience of these very special kids.”

Throughout the year, the Foundation ships out surprise care packages straight to the homes of families and also organizes events at the Hansen Home for Hope, such as the recent Back-to-School Bash and Holiday party, complete with presents and a visit from Santa.

Pork Bucks are just like any other coupon and can be reimbursed at local retailers (i.e. Hy-Vee, Fareway) for fresh pork, ham, ribs, bacon and ground pork. “Whether they are planning a few final end of summer BBQs or stashing them away for crockpot season we wanted to give them a reason to bring their families together—and great food does just that,” said Sorenson. #billionplus

P.S. – Thank you Moriah for the awesome pig drawing!