Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation Honors Veterans through Pork for Patriots
214 Iowa veteran-based organizations are preparing to host Veterans Day celebrations with the support of Iowa Select Farms and the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation. Eligible veterans’ organizations, community groups and nonprofits recently received free pork loins and supplies for Veterans Day community events, the Foundation said in a release.
The pork loins and event kits help communities celebrate and honor veterans in their area, spanning 73 Iowa counties and 142 communities. Encompassing the 214 organizations are 95 American Legions, 33 Veterans of Foreign Wars organizations, 19 Elks Lodges, 21 County Veteran Affairs Offices, 10 AMVETS and 31 other veteran-based groups. This is the third year that pork loins and supplies have been offered. Each organization was offered 48 boneless pork loins and an event kit complete with placemats, plates, cups, napkins, centerpieces, posters and tablecloths. On average, the kits will feed 960 people.
Pork for Patriots is just one of the foundation’s programs devoted to supporting and honoring Iowa veterans and military families. The foundation offers micro-grants through Project Food and Fellowship, outfits veterans through the My Veteran Hero program, delivers Pork Care Package coupons to active military members, sends annual gifts to Gold Star families and sponsors of the Veterans Day parade at the Iowa State Fair.
Iowa Pork Producers Association Donates 38,000 Servings of Pork
The Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA), in partnership with Fareway Stores, Inc., delivered $20,000 worth of ground pork to six regional food banks across Iowa and western Nebraska this week as part of an ongoing effort to fight food insecurity and support local communities. The donations equal more than 9,500 lbs. of ground pork and will provide more than 38,000 servings of valuable protein to people in need.
Deliveries took place October 28–29 to the Food Bank of Iowa in Des Moines, River Bend Food Bank in Davenport, Northeast Iowa Food Bank in Waterloo, HACAP Food Reservoir in Hiawatha, Food Bank of Siouxland in Sioux City, and the Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha. The donations were made possible through funds raised at IPPA’s annual BBQ & Brew at the Ballpark event, held earlier this year.
Fareway, a long-time partner in community giving efforts, provided the resources to deliver the ground pork to the donation centers. According to the Iowa Food Bank Association, donations of protein are among the most valuable contributions to food pantries across the state. The effort is part of IPPA’s ongoing Pork in the Pantry initiative, which encourages county pork producer organizations and partners to donate pork products to local food pantries throughout the year.
TinCaps partner with Indiana Pork to donate meals to Community Harvest Food Bank
The Fort Wayne TinCaps and Indiana Pork are donating over 2,000 ground pork meals to the Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana. This comes after the team sold 2,000 tenderloin sandwiches at Parkview Field this past season, with the majority of sales coming when the TinCaps hosted the “Hoosier State Tenderloins Series” presented by Indiana Pork, the organization said in a release.
In the spirit of Hoosiers helping their fellow Hoosiers, for each sandwich sold, a meal of ground pork is being donated to help members of the community in need. This was the 3rd year for the partnership, which has resulted in nearly 6,500 ground pork meals donated to Community Harvest Food Bank. The 2,000-plus meals also translates to more than 500 pounds of ground pork.
During the three-day celebration of Indiana’s unofficial state sandwich, the TinCaps not only featured breaded tenderloins on the Parkview Field menu, but rebranded as the Hoosier State Tenderloins with uniforms and in-game promotions. While the Breaded Tenderloin Sandwich is universally revered around the Hoosier State, it originated in Northeast Indiana, not far from Parkview Field.
Just 25 miles southeast of the ballpark in downtown Huntington, Nick’s Kitchen has been treating customers to tasty tenderloin sandwiches since 1908. Now, Nick’s is the first stop on what has been named the Tenderloin Trail that weaves throughout the state all the way down to Evansville. After debuting in 2023, the Hoosier State Tenderloins were recognized as a “Best Alternate Identity” around Minor League Baseball and even featured on national TV on MLB Network.
Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC Announces Total Donations from Smithfield Foods Hunger Relief Day
For the fifth year in a row, Smithfield Foods Hunger Relief Day at the N.C. State Fair generated an outpouring of support for The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina (the Food Bank) to help fight hunger in the state. On Thursday, Oct. 23, fairgoers from across North Carolina donated six cans of food in exchange for free admission. Thanks to their generosity, the event raised the equivalent of 150,000 meals or 16 truckloads of food for those facing hunger in North Carolina, Smithfield said in a release.
Communities across North Carolina are facing the worst hunger crisis in a generation. More than 1.6 million people in North Carolina — 1 in 7 of our neighbors — don’t know where their next meal might come from. Smithfield Foods Hunger Relief Day supports hundreds of local food pantries and meal sites across the Food Bank network with many of the most in-demand items. Partner agencies look forward to receiving the food from the fair each year and it will be a timely boost to their efforts right now.
