The Berrien County Youth Fair Swine Committee is busy assembling panels for its swine pen project, getting 96 new steel and galvanized pens ready for the Aug. 16-21 fair.

The Swine Pen Project, supported by the BCYF Board, is a partnership with the South Bend Ironworkers Local 292 Apprentice Program. The undertaking is funded through donations by the Ironworkers; Builder’s Ironworks; Niles Chemical and Paint; Miller Welding; ATT Witt Galvenizing; the Upton Foundation; the Hanson Family Foundation; and many other community businesses and individuals.

BCYF Swine Committee members have been working since October to design pens and raise money to replace 46 pens in the Swine Barn, which will then house an additional 192 pigs. Total pig capacity will be growing from 288 to 339 for fair week. A separate barn will support tack for the youth exhibitors. Previously, part of this tack barn had included add-on pens for swine exhibitors that were never intended to be permanent, but funding kept the fair board from replacing the temporary units, and a need for more pens grew. The new layout in Swine Barn provides for more pens, a greater number of aisles, better flow through the barn and safe housing.

BCYF Swine Project chairperson Gaye Blind contacted the South Bend Ironworkers Local 292 and worked out a deal that benefited everyone. If the fair could provide the materials through fundraising, then the apprentices could get practice by making the swine pens, and at no charge to the fair.

Blind said, “This project is really coming together with the work of so many people, whether they are building the pens, asking for donations, or spreading the word about this project that is so meaningful to the BCYF swine exhibitors and their families.”

Community support is welcome, and the first $5,000 will be matched with grants from the Upton Foundation and the Hanson Family Foundation. The Blue Ribbon donation program is posted on the fair’s website at  www.bcyf.org, where potential donors can find out more information and fill out a donation form.