DALLAS, Oct. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Smithfield Foods joined forces with WinCo Foods to donate 40,000 pounds of protein to North Texas Food Bank. The donation was part of Smithfield's Helping Hungry Homes® initiative, a program focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure. Smithfield's contribution, equivalent to 160,000 servings, will help those fighting hunger in North Texas, where one in six individuals are food insecure.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/99e20cbe-3827-495d-80cb-879b69660c7b

"Protein is a critical, high in-demand resource, with a scarcely low supply that has been amplified even more during our state's disaster recovery," said Dale Long, interim vice president of operations for the North Texas Food Bank. "We are tremendously grateful to Smithfield and WinCo for today's donation, which will provide nutrient-rich protein to countless families and individuals across our service area during this time of immediate-need."

Smithfield and WinCo representatives presented the donation to North Texas Food Bank this morning at an event that raised awareness of hunger in the local community. Members from all three organizations discussed the significance of this donation in helping the more than 800,000 individuals, including the one in four children, who face hunger in North Texas every day.

"At WinCo, our staff-owned stores carry a direct connection to the communities we call home," said Noah Fleisher, director of corporate communications at WinCo Foods. "We are proud to partner with Smithfield at yet another Helping Hungry Homes donation, to continue WinCo's support of our communities and the fight against hunger for our neighbors in need."

Throughout its 2017 Helping Hungry Homes® tour, Smithfield will make large-scale protein donations to more than 60 food banks across the country. Since 2011, Smithfield has provided more than 80 million servings of protein to hunger relief organizations through this initiative.  

"As a global food company, we value our responsibility to provide hunger-relief to those in need, especially in areas that have been faced with disaster and the long road to recovery that follows," said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. "The impact of recent storm destruction is being felt across the entire state, and we are proud to continue our Texas relief efforts by providing thousands of North Texans with much-needed protein."

For more information about Smithfield Foods' Helping Hungry Homes® initiative 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 North Texas Food Bank
The North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) is a top-ranked nonprofit hunger-relief organization with its primary distribution center in Southwest Dallas, and administrative headquarters located in the Dallas Farmers Market. Each day, NTFB provides access to more than 190,000 meals for hungry children, seniors, and families through a network of more than 1,000 programs and more than 200 Partner Agencies. In fiscal year 2016, NTFB provided access to some 70 million nutritious meals. While the NTFB is making steady progress toward closing the hunger gap, much work remains to be done to reach the organization's 10year goal of providing 92 million nutritious meals annually by 2025. NTFB is a member of Feeding America, a national hunger relief organization.

About WinCo Foods
WinCo Foods is a family of 118 employee-owned stores, with its own distribution and transportation network. The company can trace its beginnings back to 1967 and a discount warehouse grocery store in Boise, Idaho under the name of Waremart. The company operated stores under the names of Waremart Food Centers and Cub Foods until 1999 when it changed its storefront name and the corporate name to WinCo Foods, which stands for Winning Company. WinCo Foods became employee owned in 1985. WinCo Foods currently has about 17,000 employees and operates throughout Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma.

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