Food Banks nationwide are reporting a 25 percent increase in the number of people coming to them for help. The current recession and the continuing rise in unemployment are having a profound effect on Food Banks’ ability to meet the demand. As a result, food assistance organizations across the country have been reporting over the past year that more individuals and families are turning to them for assistance including more first-time visitors, unemployed workers, employed individuals, seniors and families with children.

ShopRite, a longstanding retail partner of Smithfield and a dedicated supporter of Philabundance, also
will participate in the program, donating the accompaniments that will help create a complete, well-
balanced meal, including thousands of servings of ShopRite Green Beans, Corn and Yams.

“It’s important that we help get as much food as possible to needy families,” said Chef Jeff Henderson. “I am very proud that Smithfield and the United Food and Commercial Workers are helping to deliver protein, an important and much needed food item for food banks and families, during these tough economic times.”

“Smithfield Foods is committed to hunger relief,” said Dennis Pittman, Public Affairs Director, Smithfield. “We felt the need to help shine a spotlight on an ever-increasing problem for American families. Providing hunger relief will continue to remain a priority.”

“The UFCW is committed to ensuring that families across the country have the relief and the opportunities they need to weather the current economic crises,” said Joe Hansen, UFCW International President. “All across the country UFCW members are on the frontlines of efforts to improve and strengthen their communities, and this new partnership reflects their unwavering commitment to protect and advocate for families during tough times. This partnership is about bringing together organizations with the resources, the relationships and the know-how to ensure that vulnerable communities across the country have access to well-supplied food banks. Our goal is simple: Get good, nutritious food to as many families, in as many communities, as possible.”

‘Feeding the Hungry’ is one of Smithfield Foods’ ‘Helping Hungry Homes’ initiatives. ‘Helping Hungry Homes’ was established to help ensure that American families in need do not go hungry. 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.

About Chef Jeff Henderson: Chef Jeff has become one of the most inspirational chefs in the country after finding his passion for cooking while incarcerated for ten years in federal prison for drug trafficking, an experience he credits for turning his life around. In 2001, Jeff made history in Las Vegas, when he became the first African-American named “Chef de Cuisine” at Caesar’s Palace. He eventually became an executive chef at several top restaurants including Café Bellagio, which he joined in 2004. Jeff’s remarkable story was captured in the New York Times bestseller COOKED, and is now being turned into a major motion picture by the team that made “The Pursuit of Happiness.” In October 2008, he also launched his first cookbook, “CHEF JEFF COOKS: In the Kitchen with America’s Inspirational New Culinary Star.”

Chef Jeff has a long history of mentoring at-risk and troubled youth. In his Food Network program, “The Chef Jeff Project, he mentors six young men and women who work as interns at his catering company, Posh Urban Cuisine, in Los Angeles. They assist Chef Jeff on catering assignments ranging from high-profile clients like the cast of General Hospital and the LA Dodgers, to personal meals with Jeff’s family. His reality TV show is different from others— there are no losers and no one is sent home. Everyone who completes the internship wins a scholarship to a culinary institute. Chef Jeff currently lives in Las Vegas with his wife and three children.

About Smithfield
Smithfield, a name familiar to millions of Americans, is committed to environmental leadership, community involvement, employee safety, animal welfare and high-quality food. It is seeking to help the people of New York City by providing these needed servings of protein. With sales of $12 billion, Smithfield Foods is the leading processor and marketer of fresh pork and packaged meats in the United States, as well as the largest producer of hogs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.

About the United Food and Commercial Workers
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, immigration reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org.

About ShopRite
ShopRite supermarkets are members of Wakefern Food Corporation, a retailer-owned cooperative. Through the more than 200 stores located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves more than five million customers each week. A long-time supporter of key community efforts, ShopRite was named Feeding America’s (formally named America’s Second Harvest) Grocery Distributor of the Year (1999) for its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, a year-round initiative dedicated to fighting hunger in the communities served by ShopRite stores. Since its inception, ShopRite Partners In Caring has donated more than $20 million to 1,500 worthy charities and food banks.

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