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Smithfield and San Diego Chargers football stars Melvin Ingram and Casey Hayward were at Feeding America San Diego, as Smithfield made the seventh stop on its nationwide Helping Hungry Homes tour, to donate more than 36,000 pounds of protein and help serve the local San Diego community. Smithfield partnered with Ralphs and Food 4 Less to make this considerable donation, which equals 140,000 servings of protein.
Melvin Ingram and Casey Hayward, along with representatives from Smithfield, Feeding America San Diego, Ralphs and Food 4 Less, discussed the importance of providing assistance to our neighbors in need and helped raise awareness of food insecurity across the country.
Smithfield and San Diego Football Stars Melvin Ingram and Casey Hayward Donate Over 36,000 Pounds of Protein to Feeding America San Diego
SAN DIEGO, May 13, 2016 -- Smithfield and San Diego football stars Melvin Ingram and Casey Hayward were at Feeding America San Diego today, as Smithfield made the seventh stop this year on its nationwide Helping Hungry Homes tour, to donate more than 36,000 pounds of protein and help serve the local San Diego community. Smithfield partnered with Ralphsand Food 4 Less to make this considerable donation, which equals 140,000 servings of protein.
Helping Hungry Homes, now in its eighth year, is Smithfield’s coast-to-coast program to help Americans become more food secure. This year, as part of an effort to raise awareness about the necessity of providing assistance to individuals and families in need, the program will help fight hunger through more than 30 large-scale protein donations to food banks across the United States totaling more than 3.4 million servings. To date, Helping Hungry Homes has provided more than 38 million servings of protein to food banks across America.
Ingram and Hayward joined representatives from Smithfield, Ralphs, and Food 4 Less to present the donation to Feeding America San Diego on Friday, May 13 at 11:00 a.m., discussing the importance of these donations from Smithfield and raising awareness about the necessity of providing assistance to our neighbors in need.
“I’m both excited and honored to partner with Smithfield and its Helping Hungry Homes initiative to make this donation to Feeding America San Diego,” said Melvin Ingram. “This community has been so supportive of my football career so it was really important for me to take this opportunity to give back and help alleviate hunger in the San Diego area.”
“San Diego is my new home and I’m proud to say that with today’s donation from Smithfield, we’re really making a difference in the local community,” said Casey Hayward. “It means a lot to me to be a part of the Helping Hungry Homes program to help raise hunger awareness and help those in need, not only here in San Diego, but across the entire country.”
“Feeding America San Diego is so grateful for this generous donation going into summer, a time of high need when children lose access to school meal programs,” said Al Brislain, CEO of Feeding America San Diego. “Donations of protein are especially helpful for the families we serve, who struggle to afford a balanced diet. This food will provide thousands of meals for San Diegans in need and help us build a hunger-free and healthy San Diego.”
“Ralphs and Food 4 Less are proud to partner with a vendor like Smithfield that is committed to helping the communities where we work and live as we operate under the same philosophy,” said Kendra Doyel, Vice President, Public Affairs. “This donation to Feeding America San Diego comes at a perfect time as it will supply the food bank with essential provisions to be able to provide to those in need over the summer months.”
“We were excited to partner with Casey, Melvin, Ralphs, and Food 4 Less today to provide Feeding America San Diego with this donation through our Helping Hungry Homes program,” said Dennis Pittman, Smithfield Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs. “As a food company, it’s our responsibility to help our neighbors in need and we hope to provide wholesome protein to families and individuals in the Southern California area.”
About Smithfield
A leading provider of high-quality pork products, Smithfield was founded in 1936 in Smithfield, Virginia, establishing the town as the “Ham Capital of the World.” From hand-trimmed bacon and slow-smoked holiday hams to marinated tenderloins, Smithfield brings artistry, authenticity and a commitment to heritage, flavor, and handcrafted excellence to everything it produces. With a vast product portfolio including smoked meats, hams, bacon, sausage, ribs, and a wide variety of fresh pork cuts, the company services retail, foodservice, and deli channels across the United States and 30 countries abroad. All of Smithfield's products meet the highest quality and safety standards in the industry. To learn more about how Flavor Hails from Smithfield, please visit www.Smithfield.com, www.Twitter.com/SmithfieldBrand, andwww.Facebook.com/CookingWithSmithfield. Smithfield is a brand of Smithfield Foods.
About Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods is a $14 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®, Cook's®, John Morrell®, Gwaltney®, Kretschmar®, Margherita®, Curly's®, Carando® and Healthy Ones®. 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 Feeding America San Diego
Established in 2007, Feeding America San Diego (FASD) is the leading hunger-relief organization in the county, providing 18.5 million meals within the last year, and the only Feeding America affiliate in the region. FASD provides food and resources to a network of 200 distribution partners serving 60,000 children, families and seniors each week. Focused on healthy food, education and advocacy, FASD is building a hunger-free and healthy San Diego through innovative programs and collaborative partnerships. To learn more about Feeding America San Diego and its hunger-relief initiatives, visit feedingamericasd.org.
About Ralphs
Ralphs Grocery Company was founded in 1873 and currently operates 204 supermarkets from its headquarters in Los Angeles. Last year, Ralphs contributed more than $6 million to support education, hunger relief, women’s health and local nonprofit organizations in the communities served by the company’s stores. Ralphs is a subsidiary of The Kroger Co., (NYSE:KR), one of the nation’s largest food retailers, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more about Ralphs, please visit our web site at www.ralphs.com.
About Food 4 Less
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Food 4 Less operates 131 price-impact, warehouse-format supermarkets under the banners Food 4 Less in Southern California, Illinois and Indiana, and Foods Co in Central and Northern California. Last year, Food 4 Less contributed more than $4 million to support education, hunger relief, women’s health and local nonprofit organizations in the communities served by the company’s stores. Food 4 Less is a subsidiary of The Kroger Co., (NYSE:KR), one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information about Food 4 Less, please visit our website at www.food4less.com.
Media Contacts:
Hunter PR for Smithfield
Tiffany Daggett
(212) 679-6600
tdaggett@hunterpr.com
Feeding America San Diego
Madeleine Hennessy
(858) 768-7435
mhennessy@feedingamericasd.org
Ralphs / Food 4 Less
Kendra Doyel
(310) 884-4141
kendra.doyel@ralphs.com
Smithfield and San Diego Football Stars Melvin Ingram and Casey Hayward
Helped Donate Over 36,000 Pounds of Protein to Feeding America San Diego
B-Roll Shot List
San Diego, 13 May 2016
1. Smithfield Truck
2. Pan from Smithfield truck to Feeding America truck
3. Al Brislain, CEO, Feeding America San Diego
Press Conference Remarks: “We’re so excited about this opportunity. You know there’s 150,000 kids that are food insecure right here in San Diego county and for a lot of those kids protein is something that they don’t get that much of.”
4. Kendra Doyel, Vice President, Public Affairs, Ralphs/Food 4 Less
Press Conference Remarks: “Last year Ralphs and Food 4 Less donated over 5 million pounds of food to our Feeding America partners through our perishable donation program and we know what a difference that makes.”
5. Diana Souder, Senior PR Manager, Smithfield
Press Conference Remarks: “We pledged to make 30 or more stops this year alone which equals for 3.4 million servings of protein that we will donate to Feeding America food banks this year across the country.”
6. Melvin Ingram (R), Linebacker, San Diego Chargers
Press Conference Remarks: “So I know what it feels like to just come from a low income background and not know if you’re going to be able to eat or not knowing if your mother is going to be able to provide food so it’s just a blessing and an honor for me to be here.”
7. Casey Hayward (L), Cornerback, San Diego Chargers
Press Conference Remarks: “I feel like our purpose is so much bigger than football and to start here my first year in San Diego to come in and help with this great comeback with giving a lot of food away with Smithfield—36,000 pounds of food; pure protein and a 140,000 servings is great for us.”
8. Truck door is rolled up and donation is revealed
9. Donation hand-to-hand line medium
10. Donation hand-to-hand line close up of hands
11. Donation bins being filled
12. From left: Casey Hayward, Melvin Ingram and Kendra Doyel in donation line
13. Helping Hungry Homes Sticker placed on U.S. Map
14. From left, Casey Hayward and Melvin Ingram pose for pictures
15. Forklifts unloading the rest of the donated products
16. Forklifts unloading the rest of the donated products from the truck
17. Pan from signage to donation map
18. Product
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Melvin Ingram
“I’m here with my teammate Casey Hayward and we have partnered with Smithfield to donate 36,000 pounds of protein to Feeding America San Diego which is equivalent to 140,000 servings.”
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Casey Hayward
“To give back to a great city that we play in to help hungry families and people in need we felt like it was a great opportunity to team up with Smithfield.”
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Melvin Ingram
“Giving back to the community is amazing because on the field we try to give our all and in the community we try to give our all.”
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Diana Souder
“The Smithfield Helping Hungry Homes program is here in San Diego today to donate 36,000 pounds of protein to Feeding America San Diego. We’re here in partnership with Ralphs and Food 4 Less as well as two San Diego Chargers, Melvin Ingram and Casey Hayward.”
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Diana Souder
“I was playing in a park recently with my nephew and he tugged on my shirt and said he was hungry and I said, ‘No problem we’ll get you in the car and take you to get something to eat’ and imagine if that was your child who told you that he was hungry and you couldn’t feed him. That’s why we do this. We’re a food company. It’s what we do. We feed people.”
24. SOUNDBITE (English) Al Brislain
“This is protein, we don’t get protein donated all that often so when we can get good protein for the families facing hunger that we serve, that’s really a special day for us.”
25. SOUNDBITE (English) Kendra Doyel
“Ralphs and Food 4 Less proudly serve in the San Diego market with many many stores in many different communities and so our associates also live and work in this area as well and we know that our military families our serving our country and they’re living in this community as well and so we want to make sure we’re not only giving back to them but to our friends and neighbors as well in need in San Diego.
16 May 2016
