February 22, 2019
Ramona Ann Okkema-Clark is dedicated to promoting dairy foods and the local dairy community. Her efforts were noticed by The United Dairy Industry of Michigan, which recently honored Okkema-Clark with the 2019 Excellence in Dairy Promotion award at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference.
Okkema-Clark was nominated by her son, Dirk.
“Ramona’s dedication to promoting dairy goes above and beyond,” says Sharon Toth, UDIM CEO. “She is an inspiration to everyone in the dairy community.”
Volunteer contributions
Okkema-Clark organized the Montabella School Carnival, where students learned about farm animals by interacting with lambs, calves, chickens, ducks and rabbits she arranged to be at the carnival. She also brought Maxine — a simulated cow for the children to milk — to help them learn more about what cows eat and the nutrition benefits of milk.
She implemented UDIM programs in her local community such as a Jump with Jill event at Montabella Elementary School and applied for and received a Nature’s Sports Drink Grant for the Montabella High School football team.
For the past 15 years, Okkema-Clark and her family have built a float for the local parade. Each year, their theme focuses on educating the public about dairy farming.
Her family hosted Breakfast on the Farm in 2014 for 2,000 people. Okkema-Clark also continues to volunteer at Breakfast on the Farm when other farms host the event.
She passed out milk to runners at the finish of a cross-country meet, while also offering participants and attendees dairy nutrition facts and other UDIM handouts.
For the past 10 years, Okkema-Clark has volunteered in the Montcalm County Little Red Barn, which sells dairy foods at the county fair. She also volunteers at the Great Dairy Adventure answering questions about dairy.
Okkema-Clark serves as a dairy communicator for the Michigan Milk Producers Association. In this role, she attends meetings and shares dairy’s story with the public.
“Ramona has been greatly involved in the promotion of dairy for many years,” Dirk says. “Her work has been spread all around the community and the state of Michigan.”
Nominations for the 2020 Excellence in Dairy Promotion award will be accepted from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31. Contact Jolene Griffin at [email protected] with questions about the application process.
Source: UDIM, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.
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