UPDATE– National Livestock’s Debbie Wedel reports that the final dollar amount raised in the Monday sale and resale of the calf at the Oklahoma National Stockyards for the All American Beef Battalion topped $60,000- all to be used to for their efforts to “Feed Steaks for Troops.”
Jon Fort, is the Senior Vice Chairman of the All American Beef Battalion devotes much of his time to the All American Beef Battalion helping with planning, organizing, and producing steak meals for troops and their families. This organization hits close to home for him, as his youngest brother served in the Marines during Dessert Storm.
“We have a wonderful support group here with National Livestock and all of the buyers who genuinely care about our service men and women,” Fort said. “We are very fortunate to have them donate to what we think is an extremely worthy cause – serving our service men, women, and their families, and wounded warriors an eighteen-ounce ribeye and shake their hands and say, ‘Thank you for your service.’”
He noted the great group of volunteers who helped with the fundraiser and others like it. The AABB has no paid employees and is run completely by volunteers and covers 29 states.
“We are going to finish this year out feeding a little more than 450,000 service men and women,” Fort said. “Our first event was April 26, 2008, and we are still going.”
Fort and a friend had built a large smoker on a trailer simply because they enjoyed cooking, when an AABB director in Olathe, Kansas, called Fort to say that they had an event planned but had no one to cook. Fort and his friend agreed to cook the steaks and all of the sides.
“We appreciate the respect that these young men and women have; It is just unbelievable,” Fort said. “They say, ‘Thank you! Thank you!’ and I say, ‘No, you don’t understand. We are here to say thank YOU and shake your hand and feed you one of the best protein substances in the world – that’s beef.’”
A special memory of Fort’s was when the AABB mobilized to the Walter Reed Hospital to feed wounded warriors. “It was humbling to see the will that those young men and women had – Several were missing limbs – it was just heart-wrenching to see how they are coming home, but they had the desire. We were able to warm their hearts with a great steak, and shake their hands, if they had them because some didn’t…”
He spoke of another experience in Gulfport, Mississippi, where they, with the help of volunteers from Superior Livestock, were to feed 2,400 service men and women who were preparing for deployment. Fort traveled 24 hours to be there, only to find that there were 3,000 troops to feed after all. “I always take extra, so we didn’t run out,” he said. “The unique thing about that is that we had them all served in 54 minutes!”
They have learned better ways to serve through the years. They moved from using roaster pans for potatoes and corn to convection ovens on trailers with thirty racks each, along with a refrigerated support trailer.
“All together, my partner and I have about 12 trailers that we pull around the country,” he said.
To donate to the cause, visit the All American Beef Battalion website or drop a check written out to the All American Beef Battalion at the National Livestock Credit Corporation Office in Oklahoma City.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR at the top of the story for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
