BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Smithfield Foods' Helping Hungry Homes® initiative, a program focused on alleviating hunger across the country, joined forces with Piggly Wiggly to donate more than 30,000 pounds of protein to Community Food Bank of Central Alabama. The donation, which is equivalent to more than 120,000 servings, will help in the fight against hunger in Alabama.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1b7bf52e-b528-453a-98ee-6b7be407b6a8

"Each day, one in five of our Alabama neighbors do not know where their next meal will come from," said Kathryn Strickland, chief executive officer for Community Food Bank of Central Alabama. "This large donation from Smithfield will allow us to answer that question for thousands of individuals in the coming weeks and provide high-quality protein to our many agency partners."

At the event, representatives from Smithfield and Piggly Wiggly presented the donation to Community Food Bank of Central Alabama. Members from all three organizations spoke about the issue of food insecurity in the local community and the significance of this large-scale donation.

"At Piggly Wiggly, we value our role as a member of our local community and strive to do our part to help our community members in need," said Joe Chesser, store manager for Piggly Wiggly in Hueytown, Alabama. "Today, with Smithfield, we are able to further our support to our neighbors in need and provide protein—a valuable resource in the fight against hunger and food insecurity."

Throughout the 2017 annual tour, Smithfield will provide food banks with large-scale protein donations, partnering with local retailers along the way. This week, the tour also visited Atlanta Community Food Bank.  

"This donation of nutritious protein to the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama will help food agencies and nonprofit organizations in 12 counties give warm meals to those in need," said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. "We are honored to provide this resource to the Birmingham community and take an active role in the fight against hunger across our country."

The donation tour will continue its 2017 journey in February, visiting food banks in Jacksonville on Feb. 14, Miami on Feb. 17, Orlando on Feb. 21 and Orlando, 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 Community Food Bank of Central Alabama
The Community Food Bank of Central Alabama's mission is to feed people in need today and foster collaborative solutions to end hunger tomorrow. We accomplish this mission by supplying 10 million meals a year to 230 food pantries, shelters and children's programs in 12 counties of Central Alabama.

We also create healthy food access by feeding children at risk of hunger during school breaks, delivering fresh produce and other staples to residents living in isolated communities and providing food to under-nourished mothers of critically ill infants through on-site hospital food pantries.

About Piggly Wiggly

Piggly Wiggly Alabama, 205 stores strong, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. A lot has happened in 100 years, but one thing has stayed the same "Our commitment to community." We have structured our neighborhood stores to provide the freshest groceries at the best possible price. They are clean, bright and well stocked. Also our stores are locally owned and operated. A majority of our associates live in the community where they work and know many of the customers that trade with us. We are proud sponsors of many of our community schools and organizations. We are your Neighbor.

Media Contacts:

Dalton Agency for Smithfield
Kaytee Allaben
(904) 226-9890
kallaben@daltonagency.com

Atlanta Community Food Bank
Kathryn Strickland
(256) 655-8585
kstrickland@feedingal.org

Piggly Wiggly
Joe Chesser
(205) 249-7410
office267@thepigbham.com