Cargill to donate 600 turkeys to Arkansas foodbank
Cargill’s turkey processing facility in Springdale collaborated with the tri-state Poultry Federation representing Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, to donate 600 turkeys (15,400 pounds) to the Arkansas Foodbank in Little Rock, including a truckload of turkeys delivered for Thanksgiving 2012.
Over the past 20 years, Cargill’s Springdale facility has donated more than 288,000 pounds of turkey to charitable organisations throughout Arkansas.
“With this summer’s drought, the price of corn needed to feed poultry has increased dramatically, making it harder for people living on the margins of society, and people on fixed incomes, to have a traditional Thanksgiving turkey for dinner,” said Marvin Childers, president of the Poultry Federation. “It is our wish that this donation will help many families have a better holiday season.”
Cargill’s Honeysuckle White turkey brand partners with Feeding America, which annually helps feed two million people in need throughout the nation. “The Cargill team of more than 1,600 Arkansans working in the area’s turkey complex are thrilled to help fellow citizens who deserve a nice Thanksgiving dinner,” stated Shane Acosta, general manager at the company’s turkey processing plant.
The Arkansas Foodbank serves more than 250 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and agencies that provide aid directly to hungry Arkansans. In 2011, the Arkansas Foodbank, a member of Feeding America and the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, distributed more than 13.3 million pounds of food.
“Nobody in America should go hungry, especially this time of the year, because Arkansas is the third largest turkey producing state in the US, having produced 31 million turkeys in 2011, representing 603 million pounds of turkey, valued at $412 million,” explained Childers.
