At the opening of the 2025 Pennsylvania Farm Show, Fill a Glass with Hope® celebrated the tenth anniversary of its charitable milk distribution program. Thanks to sponsors of the 2025 program year, the organization collected $181,500 in total donations, which will support its mission of providing a gallon of fresh milk every week to families in need throughout Pennsylvania.
These funds include generous $25,000 gifts from Fill a Glass with Hope’s 2025 Supreme Champion Sponsors: Coterra Energy, Columbia Gas and NiSource Foundation, the First Energy Foundation, and Weis Markets. This is our tenth year returning as a sponsor of this great program.
Agriculture: Key to Communities and Key to Coterra Energy
At Coterra Energy, we understand the vital role agriculture plays in sustaining our communities. Without it, fresh dairy, produce, protein, and other crops wouldn’t be accessible to keep people fed. For this reason, we’re committed to sustaining partnerships that help us make a positive impact in the communities we serve — and that includes our support of Fill a Glass with Hope’s mission.
Coterra Energy has supported Fill a Glass with Hope since its inception in 2015, after seeing the crucial need for fresh milk at food banks. In Pennsylvania, much of our operations coexist with dairy farming, making this partnership especially meaningful.
Our support underwrites the cost of this terrific program in Susquehanna and Wyoming counties specifically. Over the past few years, many dairy farms in these counties have struggled. By developing our natural gas operations here, Coterra Energy has brought in a new source of income for farmers.
Now, many of our employees and contractors come from a rich background in farming and agriculture. Some even continue to work on the farm before and after their work with Coterra Energy. This bridge between energy and agriculture fuels our need to support local farmers and communities. That’s why we are proud to support Fill a Glass with Hope in their mission to provide fresh milk to Pennsylvanians in need.
Coterra Energy was a Supreme Champion Sponsor at the Fill a Glass with Hope Tenth Anniversary celebration. As a part of the sponsorship, Coterra Energy donated $25,000 to the charitable organization.
A Tenth Anniversary Celebration at the PA Farm Show
To announce the tenth-anniversary launch at the opening of this year’s PA Farm Show, Feeding Pennsylvania was joined by the following supporters: Two-time Super Bowl Champion and Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch; Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding; Feeding Pennsylvania CEO Julie Bancroft; PA Dairymen’s Association Executive Director Dave Smith; Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program (PDPP) Farmer Lolly Lesher; and American Dairy Association North East (ADANE) CEO John Chrisman. Other key participants included PA Dairy Princess Royalty; state, business, and government leaders; sponsors; dairy industry leaders; and Feeding Pennsylvania member food bank representatives and leaders.
After the milkshake toast, celebrity milkshake servers from the media greeted Farm Show visitors as they enjoyed farm fresh foods and beverages offered during the 2025 show.
At the launch, Charlie Batch said, “Providing fresh milk to food pantries is the important mission of Fill a Glass with Hope. On this tenth anniversary, I’m so proud of the program’s founders and today’s generous sponsors. Their support ensures that families, especially children, have the essential nutrients they need to fuel their days.”
Two-time Super Bowl Champion and Former NFL quarterback Charlie Batch spoke at the Fill a Glass with Hope Tenth Anniversary celebration at the PA Farm Show.
The Need to Prioritize Food Security in Pennsylvania
Food insecurity affects neighbors in every county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with rural areas having some of the highest rates of food-insecure households. In fact, more than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians, including 436,000 children, experience food insecurity each year. Because of programs like Fill a Glass with Hope, Feeding Pennsylvania’s nine partner food banks distribute more than 237 million pounds of food through a network of over 2,750 agencies and feeding programs.
“This year, as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of Fill a Glass with Hope, the outpouring of support from our sponsors and partners for this program is a remarkable reminder of how communities come together to support and uplift their neighbors,” said Feeding Pennsylvania CEO Julie Bancroft.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding thanked the hardworking dairy farmers who are vital partners in the Fill a Glass with Hope charitable milk program and valued members of the Pennsylvania agriculture industry.
“In a state as rich in resources as Pennsylvania, it is unacceptable that anyone would be insecure about where their next meal will come from,” Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding remarked. “The Shapiro Administration is pleased to partner with generous Pennsylvania farmers and partners like Feeding Pennsylvania who work year-round toward a day when no one in PA goes hungry. We’re grateful to Feeding Pennsylvania, American Dairy Association North East, and the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association for their devotion to ending hunger in PA, and for ten years of generosity through Fill a Glass with Hope.”
Filling Glasses Since 2015
Fill a Glass with Hope was first launched in 2015 through a partnership of local dairy farmers, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Once Feeding Pennsylvania signed onto the program, it evolved into the country’s first statewide charitable fresh milk distribution program. Since the program’s inception, it has supplied more than 41 million servings of milk to Pennsylvanians facing hunger. Feeding Pennsylvania’s nine partner food banks help provide support to Pennsylvanians across all sixty-seven counties of the Commonwealth experiencing food insecurity.
Dave Smith, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association—an original Fill A Glass with Hope partner— discussed what this milestone means to the charitable food system and how dairy farmers and other leaders are prioritizing hunger prevention.
At the Fill a Glass with Hope Tenth Anniversary celebration at the PA Farm Show, many spoke on the importance of making hunger prevention a priority, including Dave Smith, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association (above).
“With hunger at an all-time high and with families struggling to buy food while managing essential expenses, I am extremely proud of the impact our dairy farmers and partners make in helping Pennsylvanians put food on the table. Together, we are providing crucial nutritious fresh milk to Fill a Glass with Hope and Pennsylvanians who utilize food banks and pantries. We must continue to give back to assist families, especially hungry children across the state. I’m hopeful Farm Show attendees will join us to help us deliver nutritional dairy products such as milk to Pennsylvanians facing food insecurity by donating at our milkshake booths or online,” said PA Dairymen’s Executive Director Dave Smith.
Lolly Lesher, a Berks County dairy farmer and chair of the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program, applauded the Fill A Glass with Hope leaders by adding, “The Fill a Glass with Hope campaign is very meaningful to dairy farmers who make it their life’s work to provide nutritious food for all people. When we started this initiative ten years ago, we knew there was a need. Distributing more than 41 million servings of milk since that time is a point of pride for Pennsylvania dairy farmers.”
Support Fill a Glass with Hope
To learn more or to join Coterra Energy in supporting Fill a Glass with Hope, visit feedingpa.org/milk.
CONTENT NOTE: The bulk of this blog content was pulled from Feeding Pennsylvania’s press release. All photos used in this blog, including the one used in the header image, are credited to RogerThat! Photography. For more information on Fill a Glass with Hope, visit feedingpa.org/milk.
