Salisbury, Md (Tuesday, June 28, 2022) — As part of a commitment to combat food insecurity, Perdue Farms has delivered a $25,000 grant to support the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore school backpack program and 10,000 pounds of nutritious chicken products to feed food insecure families in rural Virginia.

The grant from the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, the company’s charitable giving arm, and donation of chicken are part of the company’s Delivering Hope to Our Neighbors^® initiative focused on improving quality of life and building strong communities.

“For 40 years, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore has pursued a mission of leading the effort to eliminate hunger in our community,” said Christopher Tan, president and CEO of the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. “We’re grateful to partners like Perdue Farms who provide the necessary nutrition and financial support to help us feed those in need in our community.”

The service area of the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore spans 4,745 square miles and includes the cities of Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Franklin and the counties of Southampton, Northampton, Sussex, Isle of Wight and Accomack. Since its incorporation in 1981, more than 360 million meals have been distributed to those facing hunger. In the past five years, an average of 15 million meals have been distributed to more than 160,000 people each year.

“Our BackPack Program provides food-insecure children with nutritious and easy-to-prepare food at times when other resources are not available, such as weekends and school vacations,” said Tan. “Backpacks containing six healthy, child-friendly meals are discreetly handed out to the participating children at each distribution.”

The Foodbank backpack program serves roughly 3,600 children across 65 schools, seven of which are on the Eastern Shore. It provides 16,524 meals for 152 children attending public elementary schools in the region. These nutritious meals for the children allow caregivers to stretch their household budgets far enough to eliminate some of the impossible choices they must otherwise make between rent/mortgage, heat, electricity, transportation costs, medicine, doctor visits and groceries, according to Tan.

Kim Nechay, executive director of the Perdue Foundation, praised the work of Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore.

“Backpack food delivery programs are an important cornerstone program of the Foodbank’s efforts to address childhood hunger,” she said. “We believe none of our neighbors should go hungry so helping provide food each weekend to children facing food insecurity through this wonderful program is a meaningful investment.”

About the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation
The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms, was established in 1957 by company founder Arthur W. Perdue and is funded through the estates of Arthur W. Perdue and Frank Perdue. As part of our belief in supporting the communities where and with whom we do business, the Foundation provides grants on behalf of Perdue Farms in communities where large numbers of our associates live and work. At Perdue Farms, we believe in responsible food and agriculture^®.

About Perdue Farms
We’re a fourth-generation, family-owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers, and farmers through trusted choices in products and services.

The premium protein portfolio within our Perdue Foods business, including our flagship PERDUE® brand, Niman Ranch®, Panorama Organic Grass-Fed Meats®, Coleman Natural®, and Yummy®, as well as our pet brands, Spot Farms® and Full Moon®, is available through various channels including retail, foodservice, club stores and our direct-to-consumer website, PerdueFarms.com. 

Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company.  

Now in our company’s second century, our path forward is about getting better, not just bigger. We never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever chicken, turkey, pork, beef, and lamb, and in USDA-certified organic chicken and beef. Learn more at Corporate.PerdueFarms.com.