Smithfield Foods’ Helping Hungry Homes Donates 35,000 Pounds of Protein to Assist Georgia Tornado Victims

SMITHFIELD, Va., Jan. 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This week, Smithfield Foods, Inc. donated 35,000 pounds of protein to help victims of recent tornadoes in South Georgia. This donation to Second Harvest of South Georgia in Thomasville, Georgia is part of Smithfield’s Helping Hungry Homes^® hunger-relief initiative, which provides food banks across the country with high-quality, nutritious protein.

Helping Hungry Homes® is Smithfield’s initiative focused on alleviating hunger across the country.

“Many people in our community have suffered a great deal of loss,” said Frank Richards, chief executive officer of Second Harvest of South Georgia. “We are grateful to Smithfield for this donation, which lets us provide support, nourishment and comfort to our neighbors and their families throughout this difficult time.”

As many counties in Alabama, Florida and Georgia continue to recover from this tornado, individuals and families impacted by the storm may face limited access to proper nutrition. Supporting their recovery, this Helping Hungry Homes^® donation will provide more than 140,000 servings of protein to Second Harvest of South Georgia partners and member agencies across South Georgia.

“At Smithfield, we understand the need for nutrition often grows even greater following a disaster, and that recovery is a long process,” said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. “We hope this donation will help meet this need while the members of these communities recover from this disaster.”

This year, Helping Hungry Homes^® will fight hunger by donating food to disaster relief and community outreach programs, food banks and school nutrition programs across the country. To date, Helping Hungry Homes^® has provided more than 49 million servings of protein to food banks coast-to-coast. For more information about Helping Hungry Homes^®, visit helpinghungryhomes.com.

About Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield^®, Eckrich^®, Nathan's Famous^®, Farmland^®, Armour^®, John Morrell^®, Cook's^®, Kretschmar^®, Gwaltney^®, Curly's^®, Margherita^®, Carando^®, Healthy Ones^®, Krakus^®, Morliny^®, and Berlinki^®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.

About Second Harvest of South Georgia
Second Harvest of South Georgia serves 30 South Georgia counties and is the largest rural food bank in Georgia.  Headquartered in Valdosta, the organization has locations in Albany, Douglas, and Thomasville.  Through its network of over 400 partner charities and through its programs, Second Harvest distributed more than 20 million pounds of food in 2016 to children, seniors and families struggling with hunger.  The organization operates a variety of programs including the Food Bank, Farm to Family, Kids Café, Teachers Harvest, Mobile Food Pantry, and more.  Learn more about Second Harvest at FeedingSGA.org.

Contact:

Kathleen Kirkham
Smithfield Foods, Inc.
(757) 365-1965
[email protected]