Tyson Foods in June made a $151,000 donation to Lafayette, Indiana-based Food Finders Food Bank to help fund a mobile food pantry and leverage access to federal funding for food programs. The company also donated a truckload of protein totaling 29,640 pounds, the equivalent of 118,560 servings.
With the purchase of a refrigerated box truck, the food bank’s mobile pantry will be able to increase the number of annual meals provided to the surrounding Logansport area. The grant also will help subsidize first-year costs on a SNAP outreach coordinator who will enroll residents in federal feeding programs.
“Food Finders is grateful to Tyson Foods for its commitment to help the hungry in the counties that surround their Logansport plant,” said Katy Bunder, president and CEO of Food Finders. “The partnership between Food Finders and Tyson Foods will bring additional mobile pantries to the community and allow us to conduct SNAP outreach with one on one registration assistance.”
The Food Finders Food Bank delivered more than 9 million pounds of food to 120 hunger relief agencies in the region last year. This grant is expected to allow the mobile pantry to increase its total number of meals provided by more than 475,000 per year. Also, with help from the SNAP outreach coordinator, a net increase of more than 700 approved SNAP applications—equivalent to nearly 900,000 meals—is expected for 2018.
“We’re proud to support Food Finders Food Bank and appreciate its dedication to providing hunger relief for Tyson Foods communities,” said Debra Vernon, senior director of corporate social responsibility for Tyson. “From SNAP outreach to the mobile pantry, the food bank is addressing hunger in a variety of ways, and this investment will help impact even more lives.”
Tyson has three facilities in Indiana and employs more than 3,000 in the state. More than 80 family farmers in the state grow chickens for its operations. The company also purchases cattle, pigs, grain, diesel and other utilities in Indiana and estimates its annual statewide economic impact at more than $619.2 million.
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