KANSAS CITY, MO. - Following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ian, Smithfield Foods Inc. announced that it would send more than 37,000 lbs. of food, or the equivalent of 150,000 servings, to Fort Myers, Fla., through its Helping Hungry Homes program.
The meat will be given to Mercy Chefs, a nonprofit based in Portsmouth, Va., that travels to disaster zones across the United States to serve free, chef-prepared, restaurant-quality hot meals to victims, volunteers and first responders.
“Our hearts go out to everyone in the path of this catastrophic hurricane,” said Jonathan Toms, senior community affairs manager for Smithfield Foods. “We hope this food assistance brings some relief to the people of Fort Myers as they start down the difficult road to recovery.”
Since 2008, Smithfield said it has donated hundreds of millions of protein servings across the United States through its hunger-relief initiative Helping Hungry Homes and recently pledged to donate an additional 200 million servings by 2025.
Hormel Foods Corp. announced that it supported the Convoy of Hope’s hurricane disaster recovery response.
The company said the donations would go to assisting those impacted by the hurricanes and flooding within Florida.
“Convoy of Hope is extremely grateful for the generosity of Hormel Foods,” said Ethan Forhetz, vice president of public engagement with Convoy of Hope. “This donation will empower Convoy of Hope to reach storm survivors with the life-sustaining essentials they need following major disasters. Thanks to Hormel Foods, Convoy continues to deliver hope to families.”
Convoy of Hope is a nonprofit organization to feed the world through initiatives for children, community outreach events and disaster-response efforts.
Hormel Foods said it donated more than $50 million in cash and product donations to nonprofit organizations in the last five years, including $6.6 million for hunger relief in 2021. The company worked with Convoy of Hope for the last seven years on contributing products and financial gifts.
