WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Smithfield Foods, Inc. donated more than 35,000 pounds of protein to the Capital Area Food Bank and DC Central Kitchen. Smithfield’s contribution was part of the company’s 2018 Helping Hungry Homes® donation tour. Now in the program’s 10th year, Helping Hungry Homes® is Smithfield’s signature hunger-relief initiative focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure. The donation, equivalent to more than 140,000 servings, will help families fight hunger in the DC metro area.

“Food has the power to nourish today and to transform lives tomorrow,“ said Radha Muthiah, president and CEO of Capital Area Food Bank. “We’re incredibly grateful to collaborate with partners who share a deep commitment to relieving hunger for people in our local community, and to see a generous donation like this one from Smithfield make its way to the tables of those who need it.”

Smithfield presented the donation to the Capital Area Food Bank and DC Central Kitchen at an event this morning. Members of each organization discussed food insecurity in the local community and the significance of this donation, which will provide protein to food insecure individuals across the area. 

Volunteers from each organization prepared 5,000 healthy meals, which will be delivered to more than 80 homeless shelters and other nonprofit partners across the city. In addition to preparing the barbeque-style meal with DC Central Kitchen, local chefs Kwame Onwuachi and Alex McCoy attended the event and led a training course for students in DC Central Kitchen’s culinary job training program on the various methods of cooking protein.

“Protein is a center-of-the-plate item we are always in need of to provide wholesome meals to those we serve,” said Mike Curtin, Jr., CEO of DC Central Kitchen. “We are incredibly thankful for this donation that will allow us to prepare nutritious meals for our partner nonprofits so they can focus on supporting their clients and addressing the barriers that left them hungry in the first place.”

This is the 45th large scale protein donation made by Smithfield to food banks across the country during its 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 is in the business of feeding people, and we are proud to witness our hunger-relief efforts come to fruition with the help of our community partners,” said Jonathan Toms, associate manager of charitable initiatives for Smithfield Foods. “It’s humbling to work with the local advocates who are a part of this donation. It’s their support that allows us to make a positive impact on this community and helps us to further our cause to alleviate hunger across the country.” 

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, and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Capital Area Food Bank
The Capital Area Food Bank is the largest organization in the Washington metro area working to solve hunger and its companion problems: chronic undernutrition, heart disease and obesity. By partnering with nearly 450 community organizations in DC, Maryland and Virginia, as well as delivering food directly into hard to reach areas, the CAFB is helping 540,000 people each year get access to good, healthy food.  That’s 12 percent of our region’s mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, and grandparents. To learn more, visit capitalareafoodbank.org, or find the Capital Area Food Bank on Facebook at facebook.com/CapitalAreaFoodBank / CapitalAreaFoodBankEnEspanol ; Twitter at @foodbankmetrodc / @cafb_es ; and Instagram at @CapitalAreaFoodBank.

About DC Central Kitchen
As the nation’s first and leading community kitchen, DC Central Kitchen develops and operates social ventures targeting the cycle of hunger and poverty. The organization’s life-changing ventures provide culinary training to jobless adults, turn wasted food into balanced meals for shelters and nonprofits, expand access to healthy food, and provide healthy, scratch-cooked meals in low-income schools. These efforts have been recognized with the leading national award for healthy school food innovation, The Golden Carrot; the Washington Business Journal’s Green Business Award for Innovation; and the DC Chamber of Commerce’s Community Impact Award. To learn more, visit www.dccentralkitchen.org or follow @dcck on Twitter.

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c3a7e762-6aa2-4d7f-8a3c-1e16f0996071