Gordon Burba, FAKH Truck Driver, loads donated chicken from Perdue Farms onto a truck. (Photo by Perdue Farms)
SALISBURY, Md. — Perdue Farms teamed up with Feeding America to tackle the heightened food insecurity challenge that further impacts families with an extra day this Leap Year. The company delivered over 70 tractor-trailer loads of its No Antibiotics Ever chickens across the U.S., providing 3.3 million pounds of chicken, or roughly 2.75 million servings.
Nearly 44 million people, including 13 million children, experience food insecurity in the U.S. Because Leap Year includes an extra day, it also poses an extra day for people facing hunger to secure food for themselves and their families. Studies show that in 2022, more than 10 million households included adults who reported cutting the size of their meals or skipping meals because there wasn’t enough money for food2.
The donation, part of Perdue’s Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors outreach, aimed to alleviate the strain on families facing hunger, in addition to filling an urgent need at food banks, with Feeding America reporting a 500-million-pound protein gap within its network.
“Perdue Farms remains unwavering in our mission to help nourish communities experiencing food insecurity,” said Kevin McAdams, CEO of Perdue Farms. “We understand there are great challenges these families face, especially with the addition of Leap Day. We are committed to alleviating hunger across the country and, as a 104-year-old food company, providing essential protein to those in need.”
Left to right: Richard Fairfax, FAKH Perishable Inventory Specialist, and Wayne Tyree, FAKH Director of Operations, inspect donated chicken from Perdue Farms. (Photo by Perdue Farms)
Perdue Farms’ Leap Day donation was available to the 198 food banks in Feeding America’s network, including those areas where Perdue associates live and work, such as Atlanta Community Food Bank in Atlanta, Georgia; Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina in Charlotte, North Carolina; Maryland Food Bank in Baltimore, Maryland; Food Bank of Siouxland in Sioux City, Iowa; Mid-South Food Bank in Memphis, Tennessee; and more. Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland received 82,105 pounds of chicken from Perdue Farms.
Feeding America will also ensure Perdue’s donation is distributed to counties with the highest food insecurity rates 4, including Kusilvak Census Area in Alaska, Wolf County, Harlan County and Magoffin County in Kentucky, East Carroll County in Louisiana, Holmes County and Humphreys County in Mississippi, Todd County and Oglala Lakota County in south Dakota and Presido County in Texas.
“The movement to end hunger takes dedicated partnerships that help us meet the needs and desires of our neighbors so they can thrive,” said Linda Nageotte, Feeding America’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “We are grateful for Perdue Farms’ generous commitment, which will have an immediate impact by providing access to nutritious protein for people facing hunger.”
Perdue and Feeding America hope their actions will inspire other companies and people to make donations to their local food banks.
If you would like to donate to the Ohio County Food Pantry, visit their Facebook page for more information or call 270-363-0032. You can donate to the OCFP online by visiting their website.