Larry Schwartz, who passed away in 2019, initially started the Pig Project associated with the Brown County Youth Fair along with Kirby Cabler. Ruth Schwartz, Larry’s wife, passed away in February 2021 and thus Good Samaritan Ministries has officially renamed the program the Larry and Ruth Schwartz Memorial Pig Project.
With the assistance of monetary contributions and donations from community members, the Schwartz children continue to make certain their parents’ passion endures.
“It was created as a way to help the kids for the youth fair but also to help the community,” Shannon Adams, Larry Schwartz’s daughter, stated in the past. “Basically they started it as a way to benefit the kids at the youth fair that do not make the sale for whatever reason, whether their pig didn’t place or it was sifted because it weighed too much or whatever the case may be. We pay the kids for their pigs. Then it also helps the community because the meat is provided to Good Sam who in turn gives it to the people who come into their food bank that need food for their families.”
In 2018, before her Schwartz’s passing, the project purchased 35 pigs. After taking 2019 off due to Larry Schwartz’s passing, the Pig Project in 2020 and 2021 purchased a total of 26 pigs, which yielded 6,197 pounds of pork for Good Samaritan.
“This year we’re shooting for 25,” Adams said Thursday. “What we do is we look at the market price as far as what pigs are selling for if you took it to an auction barn. We usually offer a little bit more than what market price is. We write them a check that day, then we take the pigs to my parents’ residence and feed them out for about 60 days, then we take them to Santa Anna Processing and have them processed. Then all the meat goes back to Good Samaritan for them to put in their food bank to give to the community as they see necessary.”
Leesa Stephens, Executive Director of Good Samaritan Ministries, said, “The Pig Project has its origins in Ruth Schwartz’s time as a member of the Good Samaritan Board of Directors. She and Larry had been very involved in the Brown County Youth Fair for many years. They observed every year that many students didn’t make the premium sale and that a lot of meat was going for the “truck price” and leaving this area. What if these animals could be purchased for a little higher price and the meat stay here for Good Samaritan?
“Larry Schwartz and now his daughters attend the Swine Show and purchase animals from Brown County Students who do not make the premium sale. The animals are processed into lean ground pork that is distributed through the Good Samaritan Food Pantry. The number of animals purchased is based on the available funds for processing fees. Most years, Good Samaritan has been able to process at least 20 pigs.”
Adams stated that without the community support, the Pig Project would not have been possible in the past or continuing into the future, including Grooms Feed which donates corn year.
“The contributions and the donations from the community are what make this program possible,”Adams said. “That’s just as important as what we do. Without the community contributing, there isn’t a program. Their help, as far as the monetary contributions, are what help fund this Good Sam Pig Project, and this program is needed in this community, very much so. I was a former probation officer and I actually had defendants that would come in and tell me they got their groceries that month from Good Sam and they had the ground pork sausage that they were so grateful for.”
The Pig Project does not accept wild hogs or meat processed by an individual. Donations to cover processing costs are welcomed. Donations can be made online at www.goodsambwd.org. Donations can also be made in person at 305 Clark Street or by mail to PO Box 1136, Brownwood, TX 76804.