Oklahoma Collegiate Cattlemen Sponsor Christmas "Angel"

STILLWATER, Okla. – The Oklahoma State University Oklahoma Collegiate Cattlemen’s Association members celebrate the end of a successful year this December by sponsoring a child through the Angel Tree program.

Families or organizations adopt “angels,” local children in need of assistance, through Angel Tree, a Salvation Army program. This year, the members of OCCA have pooled funds to sponsor a little boy from the community.

“For our organization, since we’ve done enough to be in good financial standing, I feel like it’s a great opportunity for the whole club to give back,” said Ryder Flener, a junior studying animal science and the CASNR student council representative for OCCA. “It’s just a good thing for the community. That’s just being good people.”

After getting an “angel” from the Angel Tree in Agriculture Hall on the OSU campus, funds allocated by OCCA purchased an MP3 player and some new winter clothes for a boy in the Stillwater, Okla. area, Flener said. The Salvation Army will deliver those gifts near Christmas Day.

“I was always taught to give before you receive,” Flener said. “Personally, I learned a lot from my grandpa and my uncle when I was at home on the farm.”

With less and less people in the beef community, organizations like OCCA need to be increasingly intentional about serving through programs like Angel Tree, Flener said.

“I feel like it is important for us to be able to work together and see the common goal that we need, especially when there is so few of us,” Flener said. “We’re just trying to be proactive and helping out the community.”

The Oklahoma Collegiate Cattlemen’s Association creates fellowship among young people interested in the cattle industry, facilitates networking opportunities within the beef community and develops career success.

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Press release by Wade Yoder for OSU course work.