Farmland Foods and its employees raised over $20,000 this year for the American Heart Association’s American Heart Walk in Kansas City.

The company sold red, silver and gold hearts for $1-$10 to employees at its corporate offices and at each of its plants. These hearts were then displayed on the walls of the facilities to show the company’s support of heart-healthy living.

Farmland also raised money through its “Good Cause Friday” fund where employees who pay $5 are allowed to wear jeans on Fridays.

The Heart Walk in Kansas City, which was one of over 600 such events that the AHA will conduct this year, took place on June 11. A number of Farmland employees signed up to participate in the walk.

American Heart Walk is the signature fundraising event for the American Heart Association. This year, over 1,000,000 walkers are expected to participate in events across the country.

The Heart Walk is one of several charitable programs that Farmland and its employees contribute to throughout the year. They also participate in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life and raise money for the City Union Mission and the Salvation Army.

The Wilson Division of Smithfield Packing in North Carolina has also been recognized for its efforts of the past year. Refrigerated & Frozen Foods magazine named the facility one of its “Food Plants of the Year” in its April issue.

The issue contained an article on the plant’s quality assurance program, commending its training and education of employees on all aspects of production, and included an interview with Wilson plant manager Phillip Price.

The plant was also selected as Smithfield Packing, Co. Plant of the Year for 2005 by the Smithfield Officers Group for numerous accomplishments, including the introduction of a high profile product for Costco, labor cost reductions, quality improvements, expense control and maintenance system improvements. In addition, Price was named Plant Manager of the Year for his outstanding leadership.

The Virginia Department of Health presented an award for Environmental Excellence in Waterworks to Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. for several new programs developed in 2004, including the replacement of plumbing equipment, a program for spotting leaks in water mains, and educational programs for employees to train them in the basics of water use efficiency.

Nicole Santure, the Environmental Subsidiary Facilitator for Gwaltney, accepted the award on behalf of the company on May 5, 2005 in Roanoke, VA.

The VDH Office of Drinking Water’s Waterworks Recognition Program rewards water systems that have demonstrated excellence in performance and operations and for the treatment and distribution of drinking water to the public.

“Many people don’t realize the importance of safe drinking water,” said State Health Commissioner Robert B. Stroube, M.D., M.P.H. “Water systems that take extra efforts to protect our citizens are to be commended.”

Among the steps Gwaltney has taken to guard its water system was to form a water conservation task force comprised of plant management, industrial engineers, environmental coordinators, and water system operators, with the purpose of recommending, installing and evaluating water conservation applications and methods.

In 2004, the company replaced existing plumbing apparatus with equipment that uses less water, installed a cost-effective program for finding and repairing leaks in water mains and laterals, trained employees on reducing water usage, developed a program to install a cooling water re-circulation system in the Ham Processing and Conversion portion of its industry, and implemented a water reuse system as part of its wastewater operations.

Congratulations to Gwaltney and Nicole!