In 2015, Tyson Foods pledged $50 million in cash and product
donations by 2020 to fight hunger and is proud to announce it has
exceeded that goal early by contributing more than $60 million for
hunger relief in just four years.
The company’s contributions consist of hunger relief grants to
nonprofit organizations and more than 5 million pounds of protein
donated to food banks, community pantries and disaster relief
efforts.
In honor of achieving and exceeding its 50 in 5 goal, the
company is honoring three Meals that Matter® Heroes, individuals
who are dedicated to fighting hunger in a variety of ways. The
company is also honoring 21 Homegrown Hunger Heroes that were
nominated by Tyson Foods team members.
“Part of our company culture is doing what we say we will do,”
said John R. Tyson, chief sustainability officer, Tyson Foods. “By
setting this goal and achieving it in just four years, we’ve
followed through on our commitment in a way that has impacted lives
across the country.”
The three Meals that Matter® Heroes were awarded a total of
$160,000 to further their hunger relief missions.
“After meeting our three heroes, I was inspired by their
passion, creativity and determination to address hunger,” said
Tyson. “All three saw a challenge, took action and are making a
difference in their communities and across the country. We’re
honored to support their work.”
The first Meals that Matter® Hero honored by Tyson Foods is
Jonathan Lawler, a produce farmer in Greenfield, Indiana, who
established Brandywine Creek Farms as a nonprofit organization
dedicated to fighting hunger in Central Indiana. Lawler is also
focused on creating urban farms in Indianapolis, educating the
community on agriculture and providing fresh produce to the city’s
food deserts.
Since 2016, Brandywine Creek Farms has donated approximately 2.1
million pounds of produce in Central Indiana.
Tyson Foods recently awarded Lawler $100,000 to expand the
farm’s operations and ensure its mission remains sustainable for
the near future.
“Like many farmers throughout the country, the spring flooding
caused delays in planting and ultimately a smaller harvest,” said
Lawler. “But more importantly, it meant those who struggle with
hunger weren’t receiving the produce we would typically be
donating. This investment by Tyson Foods helped save our season and
will make a difference in thousands of lives in Indiana.”
Lawler is opening a small grocery store in Indianapolis with the
goal of bringing fresh, affordable food to one of the city’s
largest food deserts. Lawler will also use the space to establish a
pay-what-you-can café, a model for hunger relief he became
interested in after meeting Maggie Kane, the second hero Tyson
Foods recently honored.
Kane is the founder and executive director of A Place at the
Table, the first pay-what-you-can café in downtown Raleigh, North
Carolina. Kane was inspired to open the restaurant after spending
six years advocating for those in Raleigh struggling with
homelessness and hunger. The café opened in 2018 and has served
thousands of people with a dignified, healthy and affordable meal
regardless of means.
The café’s model allows patrons to pay the suggested price for
their meal, pay what they can, or volunteer in the café in exchange
for their meal.
Tyson Foods awarded Kane a $30,000 grant to help build a new
commercial kitchen that will allow them to provide more meals to
those in need.
“Tyson Foods’ generous gift will enable us to build our first
commercial kitchen in the new space we’re expanding into next door,
furthering our mission to provide community and good food for all,
regardless of means. While we have served over 10,000 meals since
opening in January 2018, the addition of a professional kitchen
will help us realize our full potential of how A Place at the Table
can serve the Raleigh, N.C. community,” said Kane. “We are
incredibly thankful for Tyson Foods and can't wait to share many
more meals and build a bigger community.”
To learn more about A Place at the Table, please visit
tableraleigh.org.
Our final hero is Jasmine Crowe, founder and CEO of Goodr, a
company that addresses food waste by leveraging blockchain
technology to recover food and ensure delivery to nonprofits and
those in need.
Crowe was inspired to launched Goodr after years of feeding
people from her own kitchen and realizing hunger isn’t a scarcity
issue, it’s a logistics issue.
Tyson Foods awarded Crowe $30,000 to help establish the
company’s charitable giving arm.
"We are so grateful for this honor, and this grant has allowed
us to launch our foundation and serve nonprofits in our community,”
said Crowe. “Our foundation will focus on strengthening our
communities through our beloved nonprofit partners. We’ll provide
microgrants for kitchen equipment and organics recycling programs
to truly close the loop on food waste. We’ll also offer free
ServeSafe training to nonprofit chefs, healthy cooking demos and
host our pop-up grocery stores in new markets as we launch across
the nation.”
To learn more about Goodr, please visit goodr.co.
Homegrown Hunger Heroes
The Homegrown Hunger Heroes were awarded $2,500 each for their
individual hunger relief projects in their communities. To
highlight the inspirational work happening at the local level in
Tyson communities, the company invested a total of $52,500 to 21
different hunger relief projects being led by the Homegrown Hunger
Heroes.
- Rosa Rosario-Amaro – Pantry Organizer, New Holland, Pa.
- Barbara Aument – Backpack Ministries, Monroe, N.C.
- Michael Bolin - Pantry Organizer, Green Forest, Ark.
- Cindy Bosley – Community Meal Program, Storm Lake, Iowa
- Stephanie Brown – Food Bank of Reno County, Hutchinson,
Kan.
- Moises Chan – Tyson Foods Chaplain, Springdale, Ark.
- Danielle Duggan – Arkansas Tech University, Russellville,
Ark.
- Victor Espinoza – Pantry Organizer, Logansport, Ind.
- Lisa Hamerlinck and Betsey Wanderscheid, North High School Food
Pantry, Sioux City, Iowa
- Ray Haught – Tyson Foods Chaplain, Monett, Mo.
- Tony Holland – Pantry Organizer, Albertville, Ala.
- Raymond Holt – Second Baptist Compassion Center, Clarksville,
Ark.
- Valeria Hyde – Trudy’s Kids Café, Union City, Tenn.
- Chuck and Pattie Jarrett, Cup of Love Food Pantry, Eureka
Springs, Ark.
- David Santillan – Breaking Bread, Robards, Ky.
- Pam Sarnat – St. Paul’s Episcopal Community Meal Program,
Fayetteville, Ark.
- Kate Schaumberg – Our Kids Program, Seymour, Wis.
- Alexandria Severs – Backpack Program, Monett, Mo.
- Megan Trout – Homeless Shelter, Chicago, Ill.
- Michael Wennekamp – Two Rivers YMCA, Boys & Girls Club,
Joslin, Ill.
- Ken Willis – Pantry Organizer, Glen Allen, Va.
About Tyson Foods Meals that Matter®
Initiative After donating 100 million pounds of
food over 15 years, Tyson Foods renewed its commitment in the fight
against hunger in 2015 by pledging $50 million in cash and in-kind
donations by 2020. This commitment focuses specifically on
innovative initiatives at the local level. About Tyson
Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) is one of the
world’s largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein.
Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and grown under three generations
of family leadership, the company has a broad portfolio of products
and brands like Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Ball
Park®, Wright®, Aidells®, ibp® and State Fair®. Tyson
Foods innovates continually to make protein more sustainable,
tailor food for everywhere it’s available and raise the world’s
expectations for how much good food can do. Headquartered in
Springdale, Arkansas, the company has 121,000 team members. Through
its Core Values, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity,
create value for its shareholders, customers, communities and team
members and serve as a steward of the animals, land and environment
entrusted to it. Visit www.tysonfoods.com. Media
Contact: Derek Burleson, 479-290-6466,
derek.burleson@tyson.com
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