Livingston’s Foster Farms will donate 2 million servings of poultry amid coronavirus
Foster Farms will donate about 2 million servings of poultry to food banks stressed by the coronavirus.
The Livingston-based company announced April 9 that it would provide the chicken and turkey in California and four other states.
The donation will involve items such as whole chickens prepared for rotisseries, turkey tenderloins, seasoned chicken breasts and lunch meat. The recipients will include food banks serving Fresno, Merced, Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Sacramento counties.
“As a company, we have always felt a responsibility to support our communities in times of adversity,” said Ira Brill, vice president of communications, in a news release. “Food banks are on front lines of ensuring that hunger is not an added result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Fighting hunger
Foster Farms employs about 12,000 people. They process turkey in Turlock and chicken at plants in Livingston, Fresno, Porterville, Oregon, Washington, Louisiana and Alabama.
The company long has supported efforts to feed people in need. Last Thanksgiving, for example, it gave enough turkeys to West Coast food banks to provide about 100,000 servings of the meat. The latest donation is 20 times that volume.
Foster Farms listed these food banks among the recipients, and its encourages residents to contribute as well:
- Second Harvest Food Bank of San Joaquin & Stanislaus Counties, www.localfoodbank.org
Merced County Food Bank, also serving Mariposa County, www.mmcfb.org
Central Valley Food Bank, covering Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Kern counties, www.ccfoodbank.org
Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, serving Sacramento County, www.sacramentofoodbank.org
Multi-state effort
Other recipients on the West Coast include food banks in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. Arrangements for Louisiana and Alabama are still in the works.
““The effect of COVID-19 on our communities has been devastating.” said Jaclyn Pack, food acquisitions manager for the Central California Food Bank, in the news release. “We are grateful to Foster Farms for its generous donation and continued support in bringing protein to Central Valley families that find themselves in dire circumstances.”
The Foster Farms news came nine days after major egg producers in the Modesto area announced a donation of about 6 million eggs to nonprofits.
They and other parts of the area’s food and beverage sector are exempt from the state’s stay-home order.
This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 7:02 AM.
