The Little Rock Wrestling Team has donated more than 200 hams to the nonprofit Every Arkansan to help feed people in need in central Arkansas.

The hams will be distributed to Arkansas families during a Christmas celebration at the Arkansas Dream Center on Dec. 16. Every Arkansan will also deliver hams to their 14 mobile sites in Central Arkansas during the week of Christmas.

“I am very excited by this donation,” said Tori Martinez, office administrator for Every Arkansan. “It’s been a blessing to serve so many families this Christmas. We look forward to doing more together with the Little Rock Wrestling team in the future.”

Members of the Little Rock Wrestling Team were on hand for seven hours on Friday, Dec. 16, to hand out hams, but the best part of the day for the wrestlers was loading the 203 donated hams into Every Arkansan’s van.

“It feels really good to know that these hams are going to a good place and that our efforts are going to help feed those in need,” said Mason Diel, a redshirt freshman wrestling student-athlete from Hartland, Wisconsin.

This is the fourth year that the wrestling team has held their annual ham sale fundraiser and the third year of partnering with Every Arkansas to provide hams for Central Arkansas families. All proceeds will support both the Little Rock wrestling program and Every Arkansan.

When purchasing hams, there was an option to directly donate a ham to Every Arkansan to give to local families. Hams weigh from 8-10 pounds, feed up to 16 people, and cost $50.

Austin Schafer, assistant wrestling coach, said the coaches were on site for an extra four hours on both Dec. 15 and 16 to get all the hams ready for pickup.

“This was my first year enjoying the ham sale, but it’s the fourth year so the team has got a pretty good system down,” Schafer said. “I think it’s a great idea to give back to the community around us.”

The wrestling team met this year’s goal of delivering at least 200 hams to those in need. Last year, they delivered more than 125 hams to Every Arkansas. Overall, the wrestling team sold 630 hams during the annual fundraiser.

“More importantly, being a part of the Little Rock community, we were grateful to be able to get involved with the community, for the partnership with Every Arkansan and the Arkansas Dream Center, and very grateful for everything that they do for the community,” Head Wrestling Coach Neil Erisman said.