Stockshow ramps up fundraising efforts

The Shackelford Youth and Livestock Association is starting its final fundraising push ahead of the 2025 county livestock show.

Events such as a summer golf scramble, the First Impressions Pig Sale, and the Shackelford County Showdown jackpot pig show have raised approximately $70,000 to be used for this year’s sale, according to association member Reggy Spencer. The task now, association president Bronco Askew said, is to add to that amount.

“We had an association meeting Tuesday night (Dec. 17),” Askew said. “We’re sending letters out and we’ll make phone calls in January. We try to pick up new donors with the calls and some who have given before, we call and touch base with them.”

During the county show, scheduled for Thursday-Saturday, Jan 16-18, raffles will be held for a processed hog and a shotgun to help boost the total.

Askew said the association does not set a fundraising goal.

“We just try to get as much as we can because it’s all going to the kids, every penny of it,” he said. “The more we get together, the more they get.”

Askew said about 125 youth have projects, most of which will be auctioned off at the county show.

“The kids are fortunate to be able to live in a community like this and we’ve got other towns that give, too,” he said. “This is the single-largest extracurricular event and the kids benefit from it.”