Cargill Donates 2,000 Holiday Turkeys For Distribution By Food Banks In Northwest Arkansas, Little Rock Areas

SPRINGDALE, Ark., Nov. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- For the 2013 holiday season, Wichita, Kansas-based Cargill Value Added Meats – Retail, which operates Cargill's U.S. turkey business, is donating 1,000 turkeys each to Arkansas food banks in Little Rock and Bethel Heights in the Northwest part of the state.  This donation is incremental to the annual gift of turkeys made by the company to various charitable organizations.

"We are delighted to be able to provide these turkeys to food banks in Arkansas from our turkey processing facility located in Springdale," said Cargill's turkey complex manager Shane Acosta.  "There are many deserving people in Arkansas, and we are pleased to provide 2,000 additional families with a nutritious, flavorful, wholesome turkey for meals during this year's holiday season.  We do as much as possible to help others less fortunate in our communities at this time of the year."

"Because of this great donation of turkeys, many people will have a holiday meal that they otherwise would not have had this year," stated Marge Wolf, president and chief executive officer of NWA Food Bank in Bethel Heights.  "Supporters like Cargill enable us to serve our community and the 178 pantries that depend on us for food throughout the year.  We appreciate support from organizations such as Cargill."

The Arkansas Foodbank Network, based in Little Rock, is the largest non-governmental hunger relief agency in the state.  "We provide food to more than 300 member agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and after-school feeding programs in 33 central and southern Arkansas counties that reach 23,000 people each week," explained Arkansas Foodbank Chief Executive Officer Rhonda Sanders.  "Nearly 20 percent of Arkansas citizens need help putting food on the table, and the population's most vulnerable include children and senior citizens.  Cargill's gift of turkeys will significantly help our programs serving our state's hungry this holiday season."

"We are very proud of our member company Cargill," said Marvin Childers, president of the state's poultry federation.  "Cargill's generous gift of turkeys this holiday season has a tremendous positive impact in Arkansas, and many families will now have an opportunity to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal."  

Cargill determined which organizations would receive turkeys based on need and proximity to its turkey processing facilities.  Other organizations receiving turkeys include the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma for victims of the spring 2013 tornados that devastated much of Moore, Okla.; the Salvation Army distributing turkeys to families in West, Texas, where an April explosion at a fertilizer plant impacted the town; a food bank and the Salvation Army near the company's turkey processing facility in Virginia; U.S. military families throughout the nation that will receive donated turkeys through Operation Homefront, as will military families receiving them through the Thanksgiving Turkey Basket program at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kan.  Other turkey donations will take place in Minnesota and Washington, D.C.  In total, Cargill is donating more than 11,000 incremental turkeys this holiday season, valued at more than $200,000.00.

"We believe it is extremely important for people to be properly nourished," stated Acosta.  "When people have enough good food to eat, they and their communities are better able to thrive.  That's a point of view that we've maintained as part of Cargill's values and guiding principles since the company's founding 148 years ago, and it's as relevant today as it was in 1865."   

Cargill Value Added Meats – Retail, operates turkeys processing plants in Virginia, Texas, Missouri and Arkansas. 

About Cargill

Cargill provides food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services to the world. Together with farmers, customers, governments and communities, we help people thrive by applying our insights and nearly 150 years of experience. We have 142,000 employees in 67 countries who are committed to feeding the world in a responsible way, reducing environmental impact and improving the communities where we live and work. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.

SOURCE Cargill