For the fifth consecutive year, associates from Perdue Farms packed hundreds of holiday meals for families in need as part of the Maryland Food Bank – Eastern Shore’s Pack To Give Back local event sponsored by Perdue Farms. Earlier this month, two separate meal packing events – one at the food bank’s facility in Salisbury and one at Emmanuel Wesleyan Church here – brought together associates, their families and community volunteers to pack more than 1,200 meal bags for our local neighbors in need.

“This is always a wonderful event,” said Kim Nechay, executive director of the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation. “At Perdue, we believe that no one should go hungry and Pack to Give Back is a way for us to involve our associates in addressing this belief and taking action together to pack bags to hopefully make the holidays a little happier for those in need. We are very proud to again sponsor this event and partner with the Maryland Food Bank to make it happen.” 

Paired with turkeys, the meal bags contained traditional holiday fixings such as cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. They will be distributed to soup kitchens, pantries, and shelters across the Shore in November and December, ensuring happy holidays for families who might otherwise go without. 

This marks the fifth year that Perdue Farms has sponsored this holiday event through a generous $10,000 donation from its charitable giving arm, the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation. Donations totaling $5,000 from associates at Perdue AgriBusiness also helped fund the cost of food items in each bag. 

“We are truly grateful for the support provided by Perdue Farms and Perdue AgriBusiness during this year’s Pack to Give Back Local campaign,” said Jennifer Small, managing director for the Maryland Food Bank’s Eastern Branch. “Thanks to business partners like Perdue, we’re able to provide thousands of Marylanders on the Eastern Shore the opportunity to enjoy a meal this holiday season.”

Through events scheduled in other counties across the state, including central and western Maryland facilities, more than 44,000 meals will be distributed as part of this holiday effort.

We’re a third-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.

We focus on continuously improving everything we do, constantly learning, and sharing those insights across different production methods. That innovative approach is driving change throughout the company and onto farms. This continuous advancement is leading us toward our vision of becoming the most trusted name in food and agricultural products.

The PERDUE® brand is the number-one brand of fresh chicken in the U.S., and Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company. As we approach our 100th anniversary in 2020, our path for ward 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 and pork, and in USDA-certified organic chicken. We’ve increased our support for the family farm by creating new markets, including specialty crops. Through agricultural services, we give farmers more options for the acre, including conversion to organic production and products and services that increase the sustainability of conventional agriculture. Learn more at www.perduefarms.com.

The Maryland Food Bank is a nonprofit hunger-relief organization, leading the movement to end hunger throughout Maryland. For more than thirty years, the Maryland Food Bank has partnered with communities across the state to distribute food to individuals and families in need. Through carefully-crafted programs, the food bank aims to meet the immediate needs of Marylanders while simultaneously working to find long term ways to reduce hunger statewide. Currently distributing more than 120,000 meals per day - over 44 million meals annually - the Maryland Food Bank will continue to expand its efforts until hunger ends. To learn more about the Maryland Food Bank, visit www.mdfoodbank.org.