LOS ANGELES, June 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smithfield Foods, Inc. donated more than 400,000 pounds of protein to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank as part of the company’s 2018 Helping Hungry Homes® tour. Now in its 10th year, Helping Hungry Homes® is Smithfield’s signature hunger-relief initiative focused on helping Americans become more food secure. This donation, the largest in Helping Hungry Homes® history and equivalent to more than 1.6 million servings, will help support the estimated 1.2 million people in Los Angeles County who live with food insecurity.

“Smithfield Foods has given us the opportunity to fight hunger and give hope to our community,” said Michael Flood, president and CEO of Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. “With this historic donation, we can continue to be a resource, an advocate, and voice for those who are fighting food insecurity.”

Smithfield presented the donation to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank at the 7th Annual Feed SoCal Stuff-A-Truck event, hosted by Vons and ABC7 in Redondo Beach. Members of participating organizations discussed food insecurity in the local community and the significance of this donation and event, which will provide protein and other food resources throughout the food bank’s service area. 

This is the 32nd large-scale protein donation made by Smithfield to food banks across the country during the company’s 2018 Helping Hungry Homes® tour. Since the program’s inception in 2008, Smithfield has provided more than 100 million servings of protein to food banks, disaster relief efforts, and community outreach programs nationwide.

“Smithfield Foods is proud to provide the largest single donation in the history of our Helping Hungry Homes® program to one of the nation’s most heavily populated cities with a tremendous need,” said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. “We recognize that this requires the greatest amount of support we can deliver, and are honored to provide a helping hand to the families battling food insecurity throughout the Los Angeles area.”

Smithfield’s Los Angeles, California facility employs more than 1,200 area community members, and has participated in every Annual Feed SoCal event for the past seven years. Smithfield Foods’ support aligns with the company’s commitment to contribute to the vitality of the communities where its employees work, live, and raise their families.

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®, Farmer John®, Kretschmar®, John Morrell®, Cook's®, Gwaltney®, Carando®, Margherita®, Curly's®, Healthy Ones®, Morliny®, Krakus® 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 Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank has worked to end hunger in Los Angeles County since 1973 and has distributed the equivalent of more than 1 billion meals across our community. The Food Bank provides food to more than 300,000 clients on a monthly basis and distributed 70 million pounds of food in 2017 to children, seniors, working families, veterans and other neighbors in need. To support the vision that no one goes hungry in Los Angeles county, food and products are distributed through a network of more than 650 partner agencies, directly to children through our Children’s Backpack and Summer Lunch programs, to approximately 27,000 seniors each month through our Senior Nutrition program, and to working families and college students through our Mobile Food Pantry. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is a 4-star rated charity by Charity Navigator. For more information, visit lafoodbank.org/.

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/07cbb661-9227-41c0-b5db-fd0b9b0ab568