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From left to right: Joe Frank, Mayor of Newport News, VA, Keller Watts, VP Smoked Meat Sales - Smithfield Packing, Co., Steve Trevor of the Peninsula Food Bank

Last December, Smithfield Packing Co. received a letter from the Foodbank of the Virginia Peninsula about an extensive shortage of meat for hungry families. Smithfield Packing responded to the letter with a 10,000 pound reply. That’s right, our company donated 10,000 pounds of meat to the local Foodbank.

By far the largest donation to the Foodbank, the $24,000 donation included 40 cases of pork chops, 50 cases each of roast beef, pastrami and corned beef, 118 cases of pork rib-patties and more.

The donation arrived a perfect time when the shelves were being emptied after Hurricane Isabel, the Thanksgiving holiday just passing and with Christmas quickly approaching. The Foodbank gave out over 500,000 pounds of food in less than three weeks after Hurricane Isabel.

“We were so desperately short of protein,” said Jane Susan Frank, vice president of development for the Foodbank. “Rice and beans and canned goods are not a good holiday meal. These items might sustain people, but it certainly will break their spirit. Smithfield’s donation is just really, really huge.”

The meat was distributed immediately to soup kitchens, churches, and other organizations that feed the hungry. “It was a little sobering to all of us to find out how great the need is in the area,” said Keller Watts, vice president of smoked meat sales at Smithfield Packing. “Food is something that most of us take for granted.”

The Foodbank serves a wide region, including Newport News, Hampton, Williamsburg and Gloucester, James City, Mathews, Surry and York counties.