BOISE, Idaho, Sept. 22, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eckrich®, the makers of naturally hardwood smoked sausage and perfectly seasoned deli meats, partnered with Albertsons and Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit that serves America's military families, to honor a Nampa, Idaho military family on Thursday. Eckrich hosted a special presentation to celebrate the Rogers family and awarded them with free groceries for one year, valued at more than $10,000.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f1d4d5a5-68fa-4453-8091-0e55ece939b1

Specialist Allen Rogers served honorably with the Army National Guard for 17 years as an Infantryman. Allen served one deployment to Afghanistan and several stateside. During his service, Allen was awarded several medals and ribbons. Allen and his wife, Christina, have been married for 15 years and have five children. Christina is Allen's full-time caregiver and a member of Operation Homefront's Hearts of Valor® program, a network of more than 3,000 caregivers of wounded service members which provides annual retreats, support groups, and online communities.

"This gift of groceries will allow us to put our grocery money towards other bills, which will be a tremendous help to our family," said Christina Rogers. "We would like to thank Eckrich and Albertsons for their continued support of military families like ours."

The surprise is part of the ongoing campaign by Eckrich to honor military families through its partnership with Operation Homefront. Now in its sixth year of partnership with Operation Homefront, Eckrich has donated more than $2.5 million to support the organization's mission to build strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive — not simply struggle to get by — in the communities they have worked so hard to protect.

"Eckrich is proud to have great partners like Albertsons who share the same values as we do," said Michael Baughman, Smithfield Foods director of marketing. "Eckrich has a long history of supporting military families all across the country and we are honored to present the Rogers family with free groceries for one year."

For more information about Eckrich, please visit www.eckrich.com or follow Eckrich on Facebook and Twitter. Eckrich is a brand of Smithfield Foods.

About Eckrich
Founded by Peter Eckrich in 1894, Eckrich has a rich heritage starting from a small meat market in Fort Wayne, Ind. Through it all, Eckrich meats have been recognized for their great taste and supreme quality, craftsmanship, care and pride. For more information, visit www.eckrich.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 Operation Homefront
Founded in 2002, Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive — not simply struggle to get by — in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefront expenditures go directly to programs that support tens of thousands of military families each year. Operation Homefront provides critical financial assistance, transitional and permanent housing and family support services to prevent short-term needs from turning into chronic, long-term struggles. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the support from thousands of volunteers, Operation Homefront proudly serves America's military families. For more information, go to www.OperationHomefront.org.

Contact:
Hannah Meadors
Breaking Limits for Eckrich
2137 South Blvd., Suite 200
Charlotte, N.C. 28203
Cell: 434-250-4770
E-Mail: hmeadors@breakinglimits.net