Smithfield Foods donated truckloads of food to food banks in the Hampton Roads area during November through its Helping Hungry Homes hunger relief program. 

Additionally, Smithfield donated hams and cash to support nonprofit organizations in Virginia and North Carolina to fight hunger during the holidays, according to a news release.

“At Smithfield, we feel a tremendous responsibility to give back to the communities where our employees work, live, and raise their families,” said Jonathan Toms, senior community development manager for Smithfield Foods. “As a food company, we work tirelessly to fight hunger in the communities we call home and across the country. Especially during this holiday season, we’re proud to do our part to help support our neighbors facing food insecurity.”

On Nov. 17, Smithfield donated 50,000 pounds of ham, bacon, sausage and other products to support the Mayflower Marathon, a weekend-long food and fund drive that benefits the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank and Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, the release stated. The food donated is the equivalent of 200,000 servings that will provide meals to people in need in the Hampton Roads area.

Smithfield also donated 350 hams to Healthy Suffolk and GET Empowered Community Development Corporation to support food distribution events leading into the Thanksgiving holiday. Healthy Suffolk served meals to 150 senior citizens facing food insecurity in Suffolk, Virginia, on Nov. 16, and GET Empowered provided more than 500 families in Hampton, with Smithfield hams, grocery food bags and other holiday staples at a distribution event held on Nov. 18.

Smithfield previously announced a donation of 65,000 pounds of protein equal to 260,000 servings to Feeding Southwest Virginia and Blue Ridge Area Food Bank during the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash on Nov. 20-21.

Since 2008, Smithfield’s signature hunger relief program, Helping Hungry Homes, has provided hundreds of millions of servings of protein to all 50 U.S. states, as well as in Poland, Romania and Mexico, according to the release. In 2022, Smithfield donated nearly 25 million servings of protein to food banks, disaster relief efforts and community outreach programs across the U.S. To reflect its continued commitment to fighting food insecurity, Smithfield has pledged to donate 200 million servings of protein by 2025.

For more information about Smithfield’s programs to support local communities, visit smithfieldfoods.com/helping-communities.