Hundreds of volunteers from small towns across Kansas have been helping can pork to send to needy people in the U.S. and a dozen countries around the world.

A recent two-day meat-canning marathon in Reno County was part of a national Mennonite effort. It started in October in Ohio and will conclude in April in Ontario, Canada.

Local Mennonite Central Committee canning committee treasurer Kevin Knepp says community churches donated money to purchase the pork. He says volunteers worked in three shifts to finish canning 20,000 pounds of meat in three days.

Meat-canning veteran Melvin Miller says this is the first time in years the local group packaged pork, which was 65 cents a pound cheaper than turkey, the typical protein of choice.

___
Associated Press information from: The Hutchinson News