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Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors®

We Believe in Being Responsible Members of the Communities Where We Do Business

Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors®: A Culture of Giving Back

Delivering hope to our neighbors® video

Giving back has long been a part of the Perdue Farms culture. That tradition continues through our “Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors®” outreach to improve quality of life and build strong communities where we live and work, and beyond.

As a food company, we are uniquely positioned to help thousands of Americans experiencing food insecurity. Through collaborative partnerships, our nutritious protein donations help struggling individuals and families put a meal on their table. The long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting economic challenges have amplified the need in our communities. Throughout the pandemic, Perdue Farms has donated more than 10 million pounds of protein (the equivalent of more than 40 million servings) to help combat hunger.

Since 2000, Perdue Farms has partnered with Feeding America® and its network of food banks to help neighbors in our communities who are struggling with food insecurity. Through our Fiscal Year 2021, we have delivered more than 88 million pounds of protein to regional food banks serving our communities – the equivalent of 73 million meals. Perdue Farms was one of the first meat companies to implement a formal program of ongoing donations of perishable protein products, creating a model for other companies to follow.

We are also dedicated to Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors in our communities in other ways, including through the power of volunteerism and encouraging our associates to engage in causes to support our neighbors. Our associates have big hearts and are making a difference in their communities. 

We also improve quality of life in our communities with targeted philanthropic partnerships through the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms. Through the pandemic, the Foundation earmarked nearly $3 million in grants to 157 non-profits across communities where our associates live and work. The financial contributions strengthen our communities by focusing efforts on education, agriculture, the environment, health and social services, public safety, and fighting hunger and poverty.

Here are some examples of how Perdue Farms supported its neighbors in FY21:

  • In Maryland, the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation joined the Richard A. Henson Foundation to award matching $1.25 million grants to fund the Perdue Henson Junior Achievement Center on the Eastern Shore. The 25,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art experiential learning center will help ensure the financial literacy of students for future generations. The facility is scheduled to open in Fall 2023.

  • In 2021, funding from the Perdue Foundation helped the Salisbury, Md. community realize the opening of a Challenger Little League Division® baseball field called Project 7 for children with special needs and abilities. The accessible artificial turf field complex includes bleachers, sidewalk, parking, a nearby inclusive playground and other amenities for people with physical and intellectual disabilities.

  • The Perdue Foundation partnered with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to provide scholarship opportunities to students at the historically black land-grant research university. Scholarships support students studying in agriculture, business, construction management technology, hospitality, tourism, engineering and more.
  • In northeast North Carolina, Perdue Farms partnered with the Bertie County Hive House to fund certified teachers for its summer tutoring program to help kindergarten through eighth-grade students, who struggled amid the pandemic, improve their reading and math skills. The Hive House has been a trusted hub of resources for at-risk children, youth and families since 2008. It provides afterschool programs for elementary and middle school students, nutrition and wellness programs for seniors, a food pantry, hot meals and internet access for job seekers.
  • In Petaluma, Calif., Perdue continued its financial and volunteer support for the Committee on the Shelterless (COTS) that focuses on helping those experiencing homelessness. Perdue’s financial support helps individuals build self-sufficiency and provide access to extensive client resources, including housing and employment search assistance, job boards and employment opportunities, legal assistance, budgeting workshops, credit repair counseling, rental resume and landlord relations training and more.

  • In Virginia, Perdue Farms renewed its financial support for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank’s Good Food School Markets, a privately funded child nutrition program that brings fresh produce and shelf-stable foods into high schools for distribution to students and families in need and seeks to reduce the stigma of visiting a food pantry.
  • In Seaford, Del., $100,000 in Perdue Foundation funding to the Chesapeake Conservancy, a Maryland-based environmental nonprofit, is helping construct an outdoor natural amphitheater at the new Oyster House Park in southern Delaware.
  • In the suburban Atlanta area, Perdue Farms provided the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office a protein donation to help feed 3,000 families during the department’s first Thanksgiving Drive-Thru Food Giveaway.

  • In western Kentucky, Perdue Farms delivered boxes of frozen chicken to more than 450 healthcare workers and staff at Ohio County Healthcare in Hartford in appreciation for their ongoing efforts to keep our associates, neighbors and community safe through the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • Perdue also supported tornado recovery efforts by donating $150,000 to the United Way of Kentucky Tornado Relief fund and donated 160,000 servings of protein to Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland to support our neighbors and families in their time of need. Associates also joined Feeding America to distribute meals to 1,000 families in Bowling Green, where a deadly, EF-3 tornado struck a neighborhood where some of our associates and their families live.
  • In rural Virginia, Perdue Farms and the Eastern Shore Literacy Council partnered to make age-appropriate books available to 2,400 eligible children through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The global Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books each month to children from birth to age 5, free of charge through funding shared by local community partners.

  • In Iowa, the Perdue Foundation funding is helping fund construction of a new 100,000-square-foot multi-sport indoor turf facility in partnership with Dordt University and Sioux Center. Scheduled for completion in 2022, the facility will provide year-round opportunities on a multi-functional field for use by youth, collegiate and adult athletic activities.

Perdue Stewardship Updates

Perdue Strike Out Hunger Challenge  On Delmarva Has Delivered 1.2 Million  Meals For Hunger Relief

Perdue Strike Out Hunger Challenge On Delmarva Has Delivered 1.2 Million Meals For Hunger Relief

Since 2011, Perdue Farms, in partnership with the Delmarva Shorebirds minor league baseball team and three food banks on the Delmarva Peninsula, have delivered more than 1.2 million meals through the Perdue Strike Out Hunger Challenge on Delmarva.

In 2021, the collaborative partnership, which also engages Shorebirds’ fans and the community at-large, generated 173,000 meals to help those struggling with food insecurity in our neighbors.

“This annual campaign remains a pivotal part of the Maryland Food Bank’s ability to meet the needs of those who struggle to feed their families. As a result of our long-standing partnership with Perdue Farms and the Delmarva Shorebirds, and the support committed through the Perdue Strike Out Hunger Challenge on Delmarva, we can provide more food to Eastern Shore Marylanders challenged by food insecurity.” 

A Guiding Partner With Feeding America®

A Guiding Partner With Feeding America®

In 2021, Feeding America® recognized Perdue Farms as a Guiding Partner for its donation of more than four million pounds of nutritious protein, primarily chicken. It was the second year in the company’s five-year commitment to donate a minimum of 20 million pounds by 2025. Since 2000, Perdue Farms has provided Feeding America®:

The Power Of Associate Volunteerism And Giving Back

At Perdue Farms, we are committed to being a trusted partner in the communities where we live and work by engaging and helping our neighbors in ways to improve the quality of life. We encourage our associates to volunteer their time and engage in causes to support our neighbors. Their big hearts are making a difference in their communities. Here are some examples:

United, We’re Making A Difference

In 2021, Perdue associates helped contribute more than $400,000 in personal pledges and fund-raising for local United Ways in our communities. Our associates’ donations often represent the largest percent of contributions to support those local United Way campaigns. The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation provides partial matching grants to support associates’ contributions and other funding that supports our United Way partners in our communities.

 

Brightening The Holiday For Children And Families

Across our company footprint, associates provide holiday gifts for hundreds of children and families through partnerships with The Salvation Army Angel Tree program and other similar programs with nonprofits.

Saluting Our Fallen Heroes In Partnership With Wreaths Across America

As part of our ongoing commitment to honor veterans and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, each December Perdue truck drivers participate in the Wreaths Across America mission to deliver remembrance wreaths to the nation’s veterans cemeteries. Our drivers, many of them veterans, have for the past 15 years delivered more than 275,000 wreaths to cemeteries from New York to Florida.

Wreaths Across America 2022

 

Wreaths Across America 2021

 

Niman Ranch Supports Communities and Partners in Need

Over the past year, Niman Ranch has stepped up in many ways to help its neighbors and partners in need, including restaurants struggling to make it through Covid-19 shutdowns, displaced families following natural disasters and hunger relief.

  • $80,000 distributed to restaurants across the country through Niman Ranch’s Restaurant Relief Fund
  • 80,000+ meals donated to essential works and food insecure families
  • 17,000+ pounds of meat donated to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota
  • 15,000+ pounds of meat distributed to families displaced by Colorado wildfires in partnership with Conscious Alliance, a national nonprofit based in Boulder that brings healthy food into underserved communities, feeding kids and families who need it most.

The Franklin P. And Arthur W. Perdue Foundation

The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation is the charitable-giving arm of Perdue Farms. Through grants, we strive to support organizations and programs that benefit the communities where our associates live and work. We work to strengthen our communities by focusing our efforts on education, agriculture, the environment, health and social services, public safety, and fighting hunger and poverty. We also support events that celebrate the heritages and cultures of our communities. 

In 2021, the Perdue Foundation awarded $1.45 million in grants to 88 non-profit organizations. Some of those included:

Company Stewardship Report

Learn about the steps we're taking to reach our goal of becoming the most trusted name in food and agricultural products.