Fri, Nov 20 2009
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Published November 06, 2009 09:33 am - Nov. 6, 2009 A second chance Not only does DARP Processing give former drug addicts a new lease on life, it provides a good poultry product to the community. By TRAVINA COLEMAN Press Staff Writer
As far as Leigh Keenan is concerned, the Drug Alcohol Recovery Program has changed her life. “My 9-year-old said I got my smile and my laugh back,” she said, fighting back the tears. “I can’t help it; I cry over everything now.” Keenan, 30, has been with DARP for four months now, and she believes it was the best choice she ever made. “I knew I needed help,” she said. “I had never tried drugs until I was 29. I tried meth, and I was hooked. DARP has totally saved me. It’s brought structure back in my life.” Now, she has a second chance at life and some help making better choices. That’s exactly what Raymond Jones, DARP founder and CEO, was hoping for. “Someone gave me a second chance,” Jones said. “And now I am going to do everything I can to make sure others get that second chance, too.” In that process of reaching out to others, Jones has also created a thriving business. Nestled in the Cherokee County countryside near Gideon, DARP Processing is in full swing. It’s a modest chicken processing plant that is contributing to the area’s sustainability in a big way. “We grow our own birds and process them,” Jones said. “And we do it the most organic way possible.” Jones’ birds are fed an all-natural formula and are allowed to roam freely on the range for 12 hours a day. “We only put 15,000 birds in a house,” he said. “And we open the doors at 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to let them out. Some other chicken plants will house up to 45,000 in one house, and that is just inhumane.” Leslie Moyer, of Tahlequah, said the chickens she bought from the plant are the best she’s ever eaten. “They taste like chicken should taste,” she said. Inside the plant, the chickens are dressed by hand, and cleaned with vinegar and water. The plant emits no odor and isn’t a nuisance to its neighbors. No blood or entrails ever hit the floor at the plant, and the chicken litter is composted before it’s ever removed from the houses, according to Bryan Hostick, plant manager. 
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