Farmland also pledges to donate 10 cents to Harvesters for every package of Farmland bacon purchased in Kansas City between Independence Day and Labor Day
Kansas City, MO (July 2, 2013)-Farmland Foods today announced that it will proudly present the “Bacon A Difference” charity event featuring American Country Music Award winning artists, the Eli Young Band, the legendary Richard Petty and driver of the #43 Farmland Ford Fusion, Aric Almirola. The event will be held on October 3, 2013, at Memorial Hall. All proceeds from the event will benefit Harvesters-The Community Food Network.
Farmland Foods is asking Kansas Citians to Donate and Celebrate to support Harvesters. Anyone can donate by visiting www.BaconADifference.com. For a $10 donation, which will be matched by Farmland Foods, individuals will receive one of only 2,250 tickets available for this exclusive concert. The “Bacon a Difference” concert will culminate a summer-long campaign to raise awareness and funds to fight hunger in the Kansas City area.
In addition, today Farmland Foods pledged to donate 10 cents to Harvesters for every package of Farmland bacon purchased between July 4 and September 2 at participating grocery stores in Kansas City. The 10 cent pledge, in conjunction with the charity event, are part of Farmland’s expanded “Bacon a Difference” campaign and partnership with Harvesters to raise funds and awareness about hunger issues. The goal for this year’s Bacon A Difference campaign is to raise enough money to provide 400,000 meals.
“For more than 20 years, Farmland Foods and Harvesters have partnered to make a real and meaningful impact on our community’s hunger issues. Today’s ‘Bacon a Difference’ donation and celebration announcement represents an exciting expansion of our shared efforts,” said Mike Brown, President and Chief Operating Officer of Farmland. “This program is a continuation of our effort to raise $100,000 in 2013 to support our partners at Harvesters, and the help they provide in our community. As a hometown company, we are proud to be part of Kansas City’s philanthropic culture and look forward to celebrating our collective support for Harvesters in October.”
Farmland Foods is partnering with Richard Petty Motorsports to make a meaningful donation to end hunger in every market where the Farmland #43 Ford Fusion races this year. Already in 2013, Farmland Foods has donated a total of $100,000 and protein to food banks in Phoenix; Las Vegas; Fontana, Calif.; and Sonoma, Calif., as well as earlier this year in Kansas City.
“Our team is honored to support Farmland Foods’ and Harvesters’ efforts to raise awareness about hunger by featuring the Harvesters logo on the No. 43 Ford during the October 6, 2013, race at the Kansas Speedway,” said Richard Petty, legendary driver and team owner. “We look forward to helping announce the total ‘Bacon A Difference’ donation in October.”
“Our organization would not be able to function without support from contributors like Farmland Foods and for their efforts we thank them. We are thrilled that we share a passion for serving our community and combating hunger,” remarked Valerie Nicholson-Watson, Harvesters’ president and CEO.
Since 1979, Harvesters has played an integral role in serving Kansas City with their food and product distributions. During any given week, Harvesters provides 66,000 people with emergency food assistance-26,000 of whom are children-making their services a staple for the Kansas City community.
About Farmland Foods
Farmland Foods, Inc., based in Kansas City, Mo., provides a broad selection of pork products to retail and foodservice customers in the United States and abroad across a variety of categories, including bacon, fresh pork, hams, fresh sausage, hot dogs and lunchmeat. Farmland Foods has a large and growing international business, exporting products to more than 60 countries across six continents. Since its founding in 1959, the company has maintained a proud heritage of working side by side with American farm families. Farmland Foods, which reached more than $4 billion in sales in 2011, is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods. To learn more about Farmland Foods, please visit www.farmlandfoods.com.
About Harvesters-The Community Food Network
Harvesters is this area’s only food bank and was Feeding America’s 2011 Food Bank of the Year. Serving a 26-county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, Harvesters provides food and related household products to more than 620 not-for-profit agencies including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, children’s homes and others. Agencies in Harvesters’ network provide food assistance to as many as 66,000 different people each week. Harvesters, which was founded in 1979, is a certified member of Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, serving all 50 states. For more information, visit www.harvesters.org.
About Richard Petty Motorsports:
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force and STP and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners Stanley and DEWALT. In addition, Michael Annett wheels the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.
