Tyson Foods, Inc. Awards Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia with $25,000 Grant
Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia Receives $25,000 Grant from Tyson Foods, Inc.
Grant to Provide Funding for Nationally-Recognized BackPack Program on the Eastern Shore
Tasley, VA – The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore today announced a $25,000 grant from Tyson Foods, Inc. to support the organization’s BackPack Program on the Eastern Shore, which helps to ensure that children facing food insecurity have access to food with nutritional value during weekends and before holiday breaks. The program provides backpacks filled with child-friendly, non-perishable items for 435 food insecure children at seven elementary schools on the Eastern Shore.
“We’re proud to support the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore and appreciate its dedication to providing hunger relief for the people of its community,” said Jarrod Goodman, Temperanceville, Va. Complex Manger for Tyson Foods. “The BackPack Program provides critical nutrition to kids who may not know where their next meal will come from and this gift will help impact even more lives.”
Since 2000, Tyson has been involved in hunger relief — donating more than 90 million pounds of food to hunger and disaster relief, working with major hunger relief organizations, and helping create awareness of hunger through the company’s KNOW Hunger program. Tyson’s longstanding partnership with the Foodbank has helped to provide approximately 78,000 meals to students served through the BackPack Program within the last two years. The company has also provided great leadership support through corporate partners like Rollie Guinn, Complex Human Resources Manager of Tyson Foods, Inc. — a former member of the Foodbank’s Advisory Council and current Board member.
“Tyson’s continued support of the Foodbank brings us one step closer to our mission of eliminating hunger in our community, especially for the children we serve,” said Charmin Horton, Eastern Shore Branch Manager. “Through their generous contributions to our BackPack Program, we are able to ensure children have access to food — even when school is not in session.”
Within the Foodbank’s complete service area, more than 89,000 children are eligible to receive free or reduced school lunches. In the last fiscal year, the Foodbank distributed more than 62,000 bags to over 3,400 students in the program.
About the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore
The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, a member of Feeding America® and the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, has been providing food for those facing hunger since 1981. To date, we have distributed over 246 million meals throughout our service area, which includes the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Franklin, and Virginia Beach as well as the counties of Southampton, Northampton, Sussex, Isle of Wight, and Accomack. For up-to-date information on the Foodbank, visit www.foodbankonline.org, Facebook, or Twitter.
About Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN), with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, is one of the world’s largest food companies with leading brands such as Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Sara Lee®, Ball Park®, Wright®, Aidells® and State Fair®. It’s a recognized market leader in chicken, beef and pork as well as prepared foods, including bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, pizza crusts and toppings, tortillas and desserts. The company supplies retail and foodservice customers throughout the United States and approximately 130 countries. Tyson Foods was founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson, whose family has continued to lead the business with his son, Don Tyson, guiding the company for many years and grandson, John H. Tyson, serving as the current chairman of the board of directors. The company currently has approximately 113,000 Team Members employed at more than 400 facilities and offices in the United States and around the world. Through its Core Values, Code of Conduct and Team Member Bill of Rights, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity and trust and is committed to creating value for its shareholders, customers and Team Members. The company also strives to be faith-friendly, provide a safe work environment and serve as stewards of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it.