On Thursday, August 17, Smithfield Foods’ Helping Hungry Homes® initiative, a program focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure, donated nearly 80,000 pounds of protein to nonprofit food recovery partners DC Central Kitchen and the Capital Area Food Bank. The donation, equivalent to nearly 320,000 servings, was split between the two organizations.
A portion of the donation to DC Central Kitchen was transformed into 5,000 barbecue meals, which was delivered to more than 80 homeless shelters and other nonprofit partners across the city.
The barbecue-style meal was inspired by recipes from local chefs Spike Mendelsohn, Marjorie Meek-Bradley, and Kwame Onwuachi, who previously competed on Bravo’s hit television series, “Top Chef.”
The Capital Area Food Bank provided vegetables and other ingredients to DC Central Kitchen to prepare the meal’s side dishes.
Smithfield’s donation to DC Central Kitchen and the Capital Area Food Bank was a part of the Helping Hungry Homes® 2017 nationwide donation tour. Throughout the annual tour, Smithfield will provide large-scale protein donations to nearly 60 food banks across the country. This donation adds to the more than 65 million servings of protein donated since 2011.
“We are proud to provide this wholesome protein to DC Central Kitchen and Capital Area Food Bank—two organizations that share our passion for raising awareness of hunger in our country,” said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. “Today, we donated enough protein to place one serving on more than 300,000 dinner plates, which will make a significant impact on the Washington, DC community throughout the coming weeks.”