Perdue $10,000 Grant Continues Support Second Harvest Food Bank

Perdue Farms is continuing its support of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina (SHFBM) with a $10,000 grant for its school-based mobile pantry program. The funds will support quarterly school-based mobile pantries for the 2022-2023 school year at Winecoff Elementary, a Title I school near the Perdue plant in Concord, N. C. The mobile pantries will provide healthy food for children and families in need.

The grant is funded through the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation as part of the company’s Delivering Hope to Our Neighbors® outreach focused on improving quality of life and building strong communities.

“We are grateful for the continued support that the Perdue Foundation has provided over the past seven years,” said Carter, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. “Thanks to Perdue Farms, our school-based mobile pantries continue to serve foods higher in nutritional value such as fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, eggs and milk, and meat. All these foods help provide a well-balanced diet to high-need individuals and their families.”

As Carter explains, school-based mobile pantries provide low-income children and their families with approximately a week’s worth of groceries. “Families receive staple pantry items, fresh produce, whole-grain breads, meat and dairy at each distribution. Children and their families will receive approximately 40 pounds of food. Food will be distributed to approximately 200 families at each drive-through mobile pantry.”

Staple pantry items to be purchased include canned fruits in 100 percent juice, low-sodium canned soups and vegetables, pasta and pasta sauce, rice and beans, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly, and low-sodium canned meat such as chicken, tuna or beef stew.

“SHFBM’s school mobile pantries supplement the Backpack Program at high-need schools in the counties we serve,” Carter said. “While the Backpack Program provides nutritious, ready-to-eat foods to children on weekends when school meals are not available, school mobile pantries allow the Food Bank to provide more nutrient-dense foods like fresh produce, meat and dairy. These foods not only help provide a more well-balanced diet, but they are foods that help reduce chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, obesity and asthma that are prevalent in poor communities.”

Kim Nechay, executive director of the Perdue Foundation, praised the work of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina and its mobile pantry program.

“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Second Harvest and Winecoff Elementary to help ensure that some of our youngest and most vulnerable neighbours and their families have the food they need,” said Nechay.

“At Perdue, we believe that no one should go hungry. That’s why hunger relief is a top priority year-round in partnership with Feeding America and a network of affiliated food bank partners across the footprint of our company. We hope our donation will deliver a little hope to our neighbours in need.”