Photo Credit: Mike Holtsclaw/On Pit Road
Donation Will Provide More Than 160,000 Meals to Bay Area Families
Tampa, FL – October 23, 2013 – Smithfield and Sweetbay Supermarket are partnering to help feed local Tampa-area families by donating 40,000 pounds of protein to Feeding America Tampa Bay. The joint effort is part of Smithfield’s “Helping Hungry Homes” program.
Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 driver Aric Almirola, who is a native of Tampa, FL, has partnered with the Smithfield Helping Hungry Homes program to donate thousands of pounds of protein over recent years, will return to his home town to discuss the importance of these donations from Smithfield, and to help raise awareness about the necessity of providing assistance to our neighbors in need. Smithfield sponsors the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 race team.
The donation event will take place on Wednesday, October 23rd, at 11:00AM at the Feeding America Tampa Bay located at 4702 Transport Drive (Bldg. 6), Tampa, FL.
This significant donation in Tampa is part of Smithfield’s Helping Hungry Homes program, the company’s coast-to-coast effort to help families and individuals become more food secure.
“We are very grateful to Smithfield and Sweetbay for this wonderful donation,” said Thomas Mantz, Executive Director of Feeding America Tampa Bay. “Of all the food we distribute, the need for protein is the most critical. The Smithfield products will be especially welcome as we work to provide holiday food assistance to our neighbors in need.”
“Sweetbay appreciates the commitment of Smithfield in bringing their Helping Hungry Homes initiative to Tampa Bay,” says Nicole LeBeau, Corporate Communications Manager for Sweetbay Supermarket. “As it has across the nation, this initiative will contribute to feeding thousands of people in the Bay Area through the efforts of Feeding America Tampa Bay and its affiliates.”
“The No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports team is honored to participate in this donation with our sponsor, Smithfield,” said No. 43 driver Aric Almirola. “So many race fans are loyal customers of Smithfield, and shop at Sweetbay Supermarket, so it’s great to see them giving back to communities that support them, and our race team, throughout the year.”
“Smithfield has made more than 170 donations across the country under the company’s Helping Hungry Homes program to food banks that serve their communities through local and emergency food pantries, low-income daycare centers and disaster-relief agencies,” said Dennis Pittman, Director of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs for Smithfield. “We’re proud to make this substantial donation to honor our customers and race team fans, and most importantly help alleviate hunger in this area.”
Smithfield Foods and its independent operating companies have a long history of stocking food banks, supporting after-school nutrition programs and providing food relief in the wake of natural disasters. In January 2008, Smithfield established their Helping Hungry Homes® initiatives to help ensure that American families in need do not go hungry.
About the Feeding America Tampa Bay
Founded in 1982, Feeding America Tampa Bay makes a difference in the lives of thousands of people each week through its distribution to a partnership network of more than 600 faith-based and other incorporated non-profit hunger relief organizations. The food bank’s serves a food-insecure population of close to 700,000 residents across West Central Florida; 250,000 of those struggling with hunger in the area are children. Receiving surplus food donations from growers, manufacturers, supermarkets and organized community food drives, Feeding America Tampa Bay supplied more than 35 million pounds of food to its 10-county service area in the past year – enough to provide more than two million meals every month to those who would otherwise go hungry. Feeding America Tampa Bay is a member of the national Feeding America network. feedingamericatampabay.org …because no one should go hungry.
About Sweetbay Supermarket
Sweetbay offers outstanding value, quality and variety, routinely partnering with Florida growers, to bring shoppers the freshest food available in the state. Sweetbay Supermarket was launched in November 2004. There are currently 73 stores throughout Southwest Central Florida.
About Richard Petty Motorsports
Richard Petty Motorsports (www.richardpettymotorsports.com), co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force and STP and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners Stanley and DEWALT. In addition, Michael Annett wheels the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang full time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.
About Smithfield-Farmland
In August 2013, two Smithfield Foods subsidiaries, The Smithfield Packing Company and Farmland Foods, realigned to form the Smithfield-Farmland Packaged Food Group, and Smithfield-Farmland Fresh Meat Group. This union brought together two leading pork suppliers, both known for their high-quality retail and foodservice offerings in the United States and abroad across a variety of Fresh and Packaged categories. In addition to the Smithfield and Farmland brands, the company’s Gwaltney and Cook’s products are among the leaders in their respective markets. For more information, visit www.Smithfield.com and www.FarmlandFoods.com.
