Company partners with Mercy Chefs to supply hot meals for flooding victims, first responders and volunteers
SMITHFIELD, Va. — Smithfield Foods delivered 34,000 pounds of protein to Rock Valley, Iowa, to provide free, restaurant-quality hot meals to victims, first responders and volunteers impacted by severe flooding across Northwest Iowa.
As a local employer with more than 600 employees in nearby Sioux Center and Orange City, Iowa, Smithfield delivered the protein donation to Mercy Chefs, a Portsmouth, Virginia-based nonprofit that deploys to disaster zones across America. Donated food items included loins, ribs and pork chops, and will provide over 140,000 servings of protein.
“Recent catastrophic flooding has left many of our Northwest Iowa neighbors without basic necessities like electricity, drinking water and food,” said Jonathan Toms, senior community development manager for Smithfield Foods. “By partnering with Mercy Chefs, we’re able to provide support and hope for our neighbors in critical times of need as the community continues to recover from storm damage.”
Beginning today, Mercy Chefs’ mobile kitchen and smoker will be serving restaurant-quality meals in Rock Valley, Iowa, to anyone in the community in need. The team will also distribute meals to those unable to make it to the base of operations. To donate or find out how to volunteer locally, visit mercychefs.com/donate-iowa-flooding-response.
“As we respond to the heartbreaking disaster in Iowa, we are incredibly grateful to Smithfield Foods for standing with us,” said Chef Gary LeBlanc, founder and CEO of Mercy Chefs. “Their support enables us to provide thousands of high-quality, chef-prepared meals to those suffering through this crisis.”
Smithfield’s hunger relief program, Helping Hungry Homes®, has provided hundreds of millions of servings of protein all 50 U.S. states, as well as in Poland, Romania and Mexico, since 2008. Smithfield donated nearly 28 million servings of protein to food banks, disaster relief efforts and community outreach programs across the U.S. in 2023 and has pledged to donate 200 million servings of protein by 2025.
For more information about Smithfield’s programs to support local communities, please visit smithfieldfoods.com/helping-communities.
About Smithfield Foods, Inc.
Headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia, since 1936, Smithfield Foods, Inc. is a U.S. food company that employs more than 54,000 people in seven countries and partners with thousands of American farmers. As one of the world’s leading vertically integrated protein companies, we are dedicated to producing “Good food. Responsibly.®” to feed a growing world population. We believe in the power of protein to end food insecurity and have donated hundreds of millions of food servings to food banks, disaster relief efforts and community outreach programs in all 50 U.S. states. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality iconic brands, such as Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Gwaltney® and Nathan’s Famous®, among many others. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com and connect with us on Facebook, X, formerly known as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Threads.
About Mercy Chefs
Mercy Chefs is a 501c3 founded in 2006 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The organization exists to provide professionally prepared, restaurant-quality meals to victims, volunteers, and first responders in natural disasters and national emergencies and partners with existing ministries with food service in underserved communities around the country. Since its founding, Mercy Chefs has served 26 million meals. In 2020, Mercy Chefs founder Gary LeBlanc was recognized by Southern Living Magazine as a “Hometown Hero,” and Mercy Chefs was named the 2020 Small Business of the Year in the nonprofit category by Inside Business and the Hampton Roads Chamber. In 2015, it received both the Virginia Governor’s Volunteerism Award and the Hampton Roads Volunteer Achievement Award for its service. For more information, visit MercyChefs.com.
