DAVENPORT, Iowa, Aug. 03, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Smithfield Foods' Helping Hungry Homes® initiative, a program focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure, joined forces with Fareway Food Stores to donate nearly 40,000 pounds of protein to River Bend Foodbank. The donation, equivalent to nearly 16,000 servings, will help families fight hunger across Quad Cities, a region where one in eight individuals are food insecure.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
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"Protein is the most needed food for the nearly 120,000 people who don't have enough to eat in eastern Iowa and western Illinois," said Michael Miller, executive director of the River Bend Foodbank. "As such, the Helping Hungry Homes initiative provides a significant portion of the most needed food there is. We are so thankful to everyone associated with Smithfield Foods for providing a gift that will be cherished by those in need."

Smithfield and Fareway representatives presented the donation to River Bend Foodbank at the event this morning. Members of all three organizations discussed food insecurity in the local community and the significance of this donation in helping the thousands of individuals who face hunger each day in the food bank's service area.

"We appreciate the vendor partnership with Smithfield, and are proud to aid the effort to alleviate hunger," said Mike Block, Davenport market manager for Fareway. "At Fareway, we look for opportunities to reinvest in the communities we serve, and this donation of protein will go a long way in helping families in Davenport become more food secure."

Smithfield's donation to River Bend Foodbank was a part of the Helping Hungry Homes® 2017 nationwide donation tour. Throughout the annual tour, Smithfield will provide large-scale protein donations to nearly 60 food banks across the country. This donation adds to the more than 65 million servings of protein donated since 2011.

"Today, Smithfield is proud to provide nutritious, high-quality protein to River Bend Foodbank," said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. "As a global food company, we understand the importance of proper nutrition and value our responsibility to raise awareness of and address hunger throughout our country."

Following today's event, Helping Hungry Homes® will visit Watkins Glen, NY Friday, Aug. 4. For more information about Helping Hungry Homes® and a list of upcoming donation events, visit helpinghungryhomes.com.

About Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods is a $15 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 River Bend Foodbank
The Foodbank is the largest hunger relief organization in the Quad Cities and surrounding communities, having distributed over 11 million meals in 2016 to hungry people in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. Our mission is to lead the community-wide effort to end hunger in Iowa and Illinois. We do this through food distribution in partnership with our 300 agencies as well as our Mobile Pantries, Senior Pantries, and Backpack Program. The best and easiest way to help is to go online: visit us at riverbendfoodbank.org.  

About Fareway Food Stores
Fareway Stores, Inc. is a Midwest grocery company currently operating 117 store locations in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Fareway holds family values in the highest regard, demonstrating integrity, fairness and honesty in relationships with customers, employees, vendors, and suppliers. Visit Fareway.com for more information.

Media Contacts:

Dalton Agency for Smithfield
Heather Houston
(386) 216-9472
hhouston@daltonagency.com      

River Bend Foodbank
Leslie Corlett
(563) 345-6490 ext. 206
lcorlett@riverbendfoodbank.org

Fareway
Emily Troibio
(515) 433-5474
etoribio@farewayfoodstores.com