Smithfield Foods’ Helping Hungry Homes® Partners With Winn-Dixie to Donate More Than 30,000 Pounds of Protein to Feeding Northeast Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 14, 2017 -- Today, Smithfield Foods’ Helping Hungry Homes^® initiative, a program focused on alleviating hunger and raising awareness of food insecurity across the country, joined forces with Winn-Dixie to donate 30,000 pounds of protein to Feeding Northeast Florida. The donation, equivalent to more than 120,000 servings, will help feed the one in six Northeast Florida residents who struggle with hunger each day.

Dennis Pittman (right), senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods, stands with Luke Layow (left), president and CEO of Feeding Northeast Florida, and Shawn Sloan (center), regional vice president for Winn-Dixie. Today, Smithfield and Winn-Dixie provided more than 120,000 servings of protein to Feeding Northeast Florida in Jacksonville, FL, an area where one in six people face hunger. Helping Hungry Homes® is Smithfield’s initiative focused on alleviating hunger across the country.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b98bf94d-5029-4239-9b09-a174aa3adfcf

“Smithfield’s donation is valuable to our operations and those we serve because protein is a limited resource for many food banks,” said Luke Layow, president & chief executive officer for Feeding Northeast Florida. “Today’s donation allows us to provide proper nutritional support to thousands of people in our area.”

Smithfield and Winn-Dixie representatives presented the donation to Feeding Northeast Florida at the event this morning. During the event, members from all three organizations discussed the impact of food insecurity in the local community. In Northeast Florida, more than 280,000 people face hunger, and one in four of those are children.

“At Winn-Dixie, we are committed to supporting the communities we call home,” said Shawn Sloan, regional vice president for Winn-Dixie. “Today, by partnering with Smithfield, we have taken another step toward improving the lives of those in our Jacksonville community and encourage area residents to join our fight against hunger.”

The donation to Feeding Northeast Florida is a part of the 2017 Helping Hungry Homes^® nationwide hunger-relief tour. Throughout the annual tour, Smithfield will partner with local retailers across the country to provide food banks with large-scale protein donations.

“We are proud to partner with Winn-Dixie—a company that shares our passion to address and raise awareness of hunger in our country,” said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. “Today, we provided enough protein to place one serving on more than 120,000 dinner plates, which will make a significant impact on the Jacksonville community throughout the coming weeks.”

Following today’s event, Helping Hungry Homes^® will make its way to Miami on Feb. 17 before heading to Orlando on Feb. 21 and Daytona Beach, Florida on Feb. 23.

Helping Hungry Homes^®, now in its ninth year, will help fight hunger this year through more than 50 large-scale protein donations to food banks across the United States. To date, Helping Hungry Homes^® has provided more than 49 million servings of protein to food banks across America. For more information about Helping Hungry Homes^® and a list of upcoming donation events, 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 Feeding Northeast Florida
Feeding Northeast Florida (FNEFL) is our community’s newest effort to establish food security across 8 counties in Northeast Florida. Formed through a collaborative partnership between Feeding America and Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, our regional food distribution center brings a new vision for hunger relief in our area. With an estimated 281,000 in our region relying on area food pantries and charitable organizations for food assistance each year, a number that has not changed much since the recession of 2008, our mission is even more important today. To learn more about Feeding Northeast Florida, please visit http://www.feedingnefl.org.

About Winn-Dixie
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. is a subsidiary of Southeastern Grocers, which is the second-largest supermarket chain in the Southeast based on store count. Founded in 1925, Winn-Dixie employs more than 38,000 associates who serve customers in approximately 500 grocery stores, 145 liquor stores and 280 in-store pharmacies throughout the five southeastern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. For more information, please visit www.winndixie.com and www.segrocers.com.

Media Contacts:

Dalton Agency for Smithfield  
Kaytee Allaben
(904) 226-9890
[email protected]

Feeding Northeast Florida
Deirdre Dam
(305) 978-1230
[email protected]

Winn-Dixie
Kaley Shaffer
(904) 370-5980
[email protected]