Smithfield Foods, in partnership with the Oklahoma Pork Council, closed out Hunger Action Month today with an astounding 33,000-pound pork donation to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.
“At Smithfield Foods, we take the honor of feeding our neighbors very seriously,” said Cathy Vaughan, Smithfield’s safety manager and Oklahoma Pork Council board member. “We are proud of the work we do, and what a joy it is to share our high-quality products with families in need. With hog production operations located in Laverne, Oklahoma, we continually look for ways to give within the local community, and we are grateful to also have broader opportunities like this one to make a huge impact across the state.”
Each September, the Feeding America network of food banks celebrate Hunger Action Month (H.A.M.) to mobilize volunteers and solicit donations in a continued effort to reduce food insecurity.
Thanks to encouragement from Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur in 2021 when noticing pork’s potential spotlight thanks to the H.A.M. acronym, Oklahoma Pork has worked with our members to encourage large scale donations like this one during September over the past four years.
“There’s so much to celebrate here,” shared Kylee Deniz, Oklahoma Pork’s executive director. “We have a fantastic champion of our state’s livestock producers in Secretary Arthur. We have incredibly generous members like Cathy and her team at Smithfield Foods. And, we have an inspiring partner in the Regional Food Bank who will deploy this massive donation across our state in record time.”
Smithfield’s donation, equivalent to 132,000 servings of protein, included nutritious pork products of hams, bacon and more. The semi-truck full of food will be made available to the Regional Food Bank’s network of partners in communities throughout 53 central and western Oklahoma counties.
“We are so grateful for this generous collaboration. This is the perfect end to Hunger Action Month and will help provide thousands of nutritious meals to rural and urban communities across central and western Oklahoma,” said Stacy Dykstra, chief executive officer of the Regional Food Bank.
The Oklahoma Pork Council and Smithfield Foods encourage other pork producers to find opportunities to donate food, funds, or time to the Regional Food Bank or local feeding partners across the state. Click here to learn more.
