Smithfield Donates Several Tons of Food to Fight Hunger in Virginia and North Carolina

News provided by

Nov 28, 2023, 09:00 ET

SMITHFIELD, Va., Nov. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Smithfield Foods donated truckloads of food to food banks in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, area in November through its Helping Hungry Homes® hunger relief program, and donated Smithfield hams and cash to support nonprofit organizations in Virginia and North Carolina to fight hunger during the holidays.

Smithfield Foods employees participated in the Mayflower Marathon in Hampton, Virginia, on Nov. 17. Left to right: Sheila Hill, freight claims and freight settlement manager; Melissa Ferrell, master data analyst; Terrance Thomas, senior desktop support and deployment technician; Jonathan Toms, senior community development manager; Sue Carlson, vice president, customer success; Gabrielle Scott, customer success specialist; and Tikea Clayton, freight bill coordinator.

"At Smithfield, we feel a tremendous responsibility to give back to the communities where our employees work, live, and raise their families," said Jonathan Toms, senior community development manager for Smithfield Foods. "As a food company, we work tirelessly to fight hunger in the communities we call home and across the country. Especially during this holiday season, we're proud to do our part to help support our neighbors facing food insecurity."

On Nov. 17, Smithfield donated 50,000 pounds of ham, bacon, sausage and other products to support the Mayflower Marathon, a weekend-long food and fund drive that benefits the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank and Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. The food donated is the equivalent of 200,000 servings that will provide meals to people in need in the Hampton Roads area.

Smithfield also donated 350 hams to Healthy Suffolk and GET Empowered Community Development Corporation to support food distribution events leading into the Thanksgiving holiday. Healthy Suffolk served meals to 150 senior citizens facing food insecurity in Suffolk, Virginia, on Nov. 16, and GET Empowered provided more than 500 families in Hampton, Virginia, with Smithfield Hams, grocery food bags and other holiday staples at a distribution event held on Nov. 18.

In North Carolina, Smithfield donated $1,500 to the Duplin County Partnership for Children to provide meal boxes for families of 100 children in Kenansville who participate in the Partnership's Backpack Buddies program. Smithfield's Kenansville office employees hosted a Thanksgiving Boston butt sale, cooking 400 pork shoulders to raise funds to benefit the American Cancer Society and a benevolent fund to assist employees in need. Smithfield also donated 120 Smithfield Hams to Liberty HomeCare and Hospice Services in Clinton and Triangle Veterans Wellness Outreach Center in Durham to distribute to people in need in the community.

Smithfield previously announced a donation of 65,000 pounds of protein equal to 260,000 servings to Feeding Southwest Virginia and Blue Ridge Area Food Bank during the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash on Nov. 20-21. Read more here.

Since 2008, Smithfield's signature hunger relief program, Helping Hungry Homes®, has provided hundreds of millions of servings of protein all 50 U.S. states, as well as in Poland, Romania and Mexico. In 2022, Smithfield donated nearly 25 million servings of protein to food banks, disaster relief efforts and community outreach programs across the U.S. To reflect its continued commitment to fighting food insecurity, Smithfield has pledged to donate 200 million servings of protein by 2025.

For more information about Smithfield's programs to support local communities, please visit smithfieldfoods.com/helping-communities.

About Smithfield Foods, Inc.
Headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia, since 1936, Smithfield Foods, Inc. is a U.S. food company that employs nearly 60,000 people in seven countries and partners with thousands of American farmers. As one of the world's leading vertically integrated protein companies, we are dedicated to producing "Good food. Responsibly.^®" to feed a growing world population. We have pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including our industry-leading commitments to become carbon negative in our U.S. company-owned operations and reduce GHG emissions 30% across our entire U.S. value chain by 2030. We believe in the power of protein to end food insecurity and have donated hundreds of millions of food servings to food banks, disaster relief efforts and community outreach programs in all 50 U.S. states. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality iconic brands, such as Smithfield^®, Eckrich^®, Gwaltney^® and Nathan's Famous^®, among many others. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com and connect with us on Facebook, X, formerly known as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Threads.