OKLAHOMA CITY, Oct. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Smithfield Foods joined forces with Homeland Stores to donate nearly 40,000 pounds of protein to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. 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 more than 147,000 servings, will help those fighting hunger across the area, where one in six individuals are food insecure.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cb019543-daaf-423e-8961-37237ec4728c

"Like Smithfield, our mission is to fight hunger and feed hope," said Katie Fitzgerald, chief executive officer of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. "We are grateful for today's significant donation from Smithfield and Homeland, which will allow us to fill the plates of those we serve with high-quality, protein-rich food, for many weeks to come."

Smithfield and Homeland representatives presented the donation to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma at an event that raised awareness of hunger's impact in the local community. Members from all three organizations discussed the significance of protein donations in helping the more than 136,000 individuals who are served each week by the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

"Homeland is honored to continue its strong stance against hunger with Smithfield, and deliver this considerable donation of protein to our Oklahoma neighbors in need," said Marc Jones, CEO of Homeland. "Today's donation further supports our shared commitment to fight hunger and improve food security throughout our community."

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.

"At Smithfield, we're proud to provide on our promise and responsibility to offer food assistance," said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. "With today's donation of nutrient-rich protein to the many families and individuals who are supported by the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, we're able to take one more stride in the fight against hunger, across the 53 counties the Food Bank serves and nationwide."

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 the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is the state's largest private, domestic hunger-relief organization and a member of Feeding America's network of Food Banks.  The nonprofit provides enough food to feed more than 136,000 hungry Oklahomans each week through a network of more than 1,300 schools and charitable feeding programs in 53 central and western Oklahoma counties. Since its inception in 1980, the Regional Food Bank has distributed more than 613 million pounds of food to feed Oklahoma's hungry.  For more information, visit http://www.regionalfoodbank.org; find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/regionalfoodbank or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rfbo.

About Homeland Stores
HAC, Inc. is a grocery chain headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  As of 2017 HAC operates 75 grocery stores in four states: Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Georgia. HAC operates under several banners including Food World, Piggly Wiggly, Country Mart, United, Cash Saver and Homeland. Homeland is HAC's largest banner as well as Oklahoma's largest locally-owned grocery store chain with 31 locations statewide. Homeland has been 100% Employee Owned since 2011. Homeland's mission is to serve its community by providing exceptional customer service, competitive prices and the freshest meat and produce available. For more information, please visit http://www.homelandstores.com/ or http://hacretail.com/. 

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