Family-owned Foster Farms, based in Livingston, California, is stepping up its COVID-19 hunger relief efforts by increasing its number of donated Thanksgiving turkeys by close to 60 percent over last year to help meet the staggering need for food assistance. The 96,000 pounds of donated turkey will help feed more than 120,000 individuals struggling with food insecurity.
The Thanksgiving turkey donations are an annual tradition that Foster Farms began in 2008. In the coming days, Foster Farms will deliver the turkeys to West Coast food banks from San Diego to Seattle. Earlier in the pandemic, the company donated more than three million servings of poultry to food banks in California, Oregon, Washington, Alabama and Louisiana.
Millions of people are newly at risk of experiencing food insecurity. Nationally, more than 54 million people, including 18 million children, are projected to experience food insecurity because of COVID-19. In California, nearly one in eight adults – and one in five children – do not know where their next meal is coming from. And many are now visiting food banks for the first time. Among Foster Farms’ longtime partners in the fight against hunger is Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, which will receive 12,000 pounds of turkey to support its annual holiday food drive. It has seen demand for food double.
“We are grateful to Foster Farms for their longstanding support in providing Thanksgiving turkeys to our neighbors for over a decade,” said Blake Young, president and CEO of Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. “Foster Farms is there when we need them, and we are especially thankful for their added help these last few months to bring protein to so many families struggling to make ends meet in this time of crisis.”
“We hope that our turkey donations will help bring a sense of normalcy to the thousands of California, Oregon and Washington families in need this Thanksgiving,” said Ira Brill, VP of communications for Foster Farms. “We must continue to find ways to social distance and be safe, but nobody should be denied participating in this tradition because of the economic impact of COVID-19. We ask everyone that can to join us by donating to food banks in their local communities.”
Foster Farms’ donations are a continuation of a decade-long commitment to fighting hunger and responding to community needs in a time of crisis.
Turkey donations
Among the foodbanks receiving turkey donations this year are:
Second Harvest Food Bank, Manteca, California;
SF-Marin Food Bank, San Francisco, California;
Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, Sacramento, California;
Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, San Diego, California;
Merced County Food Bank, Merced, California;
Central California Food Bank, Fresno, California;
Northwest Harvest, Seattle, Oregon; and
Oregon Food Bank, Portland, Oregon.
