Little Rock Wrestling Donates About 250 Hams to Charity

The Little Rock Wrestling Team helped bring some holiday cheer to the people of central Arkansas by donating about 250 hams to the nonprofit Every Arkansan.

Every Arkansan picked up the hams Dec. 19, and they were distributed to families at mobile sites across Central Arkansas during the week of Christmas, according to Zack Grimes, a mobile team member with Every Arkansan.

“We’re taking the hams out to communities starting today where families can pick them up,” Grimes said. “Hopefully, it will be a blessing for as many families as possible. We are very honored and grateful to work with the wrestlers on this project.”

Members of the Little Rock Wrestling Team were on hand for eight hours on Dec. 19 to hand out hams, but the best part of the day for the wrestlers was loading the 250 donated hams into Every Arkansan’s van.

“It’s a big fundraiser, and it gives us a big opportunity to give back to the community, to volunteer, and to help the Arkansas Dream Center and Every Arkansan,” said Jake Adams, a junior wrestling student-athlete from Bentonville. “We’ve developed a great moral character as a team, and this event brings everyone together under a common goal to help the people of Arkansas.”

This is the fifth year that the wrestling team has held their annual ham sale fundraiser and the fourth year of partnering with Every Arkansas to provide hams for Central Arkansas families. All proceeds 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 and feed up to 16 people.

The wrestling team met this year’s goal of delivering at least 200 hams to those in need. Overall, the wrestling team sold about 615 hams during the annual fundraiser.

The wrestling team is thankful to the many community partners who helped with the fundraiser. Count Porkula BBQ, Slappin’Butt BBQ, and Lee Tuxhorn of State Farm all donated smokers to cook the hams. The crew of Marco’s Pizza and Mike Rushin of Rushin Home were all on hand to help cook the hams.

“Being able to feed 250 families in Arkansas is the best part of this event,” Head Wrestling Coach Neil Erisman said. “We have some excellent volunteers helping with the event. We created some good community partnerships to support our program and give back to the community.”