Rejoice, parents of Eureka school-age meat eaters! Thanks to a generous donation from the Humboldt-Del Norte County Cattlemen’s Association, your offspring can now (on occasion) consume beef from cows raised near these parts. Hooray!

Details in the Eureka City Schools release below: 

Eureka City Schools (ECS) is excited to announce a partnership with Humboldt-Del Norte County Cattlemen’s Association (HDNCA) to periodically provide high-quality, locally raised beef to students attending ECS.

HDNCA is donating beef to the ECS Food Services Program in an effort to spark student interest about the agricultural industry and to provide fresh local beef. “Through this donation the Humboldt-Del Norte County Cattlemen’s Association would like to share the story of how cattle is raised and support student interest in this industry,” said Pat Fulton, one of the Directors at HDNCA. “In the future, we would love to have students come visit our properties and see how we manage operations. I view this donation to the students as a rewarding partnership for everyone.”

“When Pat Fulton from the Humboldt-Del Norte County Cattlemen’s Association approached us with this generous offer to donate beef on a monthly basis, we jumped on the opportunity to expand our farm to school efforts,” stated Laura Chase, Director of Food Services. “We’ve added a new menu item, Cattleman’s Chili Con Carne, which has been a hit with the kids. This new partnership fits perfectly with our goal of supporting local producers and providing the healthiest meals possible.” It is estimated that HDNCA will donate approximately 9,000 pounds of beef to ECS this school year.

When speaking of the recent donation, Superintendent Fred Van Vleck indicated that, “Providing high-quality, locally raised beef to the children of Eureka City Schools is fantastic. I am so proud to be a part of a community that has generous people like the members of Humboldt-Del Norte County Cattlemen’s Association.”

Eureka City Schools would like to express appreciation to HDNCA for this donation and the hard work of Food Services Director, Laura Chase, for creating delicious menu items for students to enjoy. The District would also like to recognize the assistance of Wes Moore, President of HDNCA, and his wife Leslie, Pat and Gayle Fulton, and the Gloria Cottrell Ranch, for facilitating this generous donation. In fact, the Fulton family and the Moore family, in conjunction with the Cottrell Ranch, were the first families to donate beef from fresh local cattle to ECS.