As part of a commitment to eliminate food insecurity, Perdue Farms has delivered a $50,000 grant to support America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia and its “Feeding the Future” capital campaign to build a new facility in Savannah, Ga.

The grant, funded by the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, and the delivery of 16,491 pounds of protein — the equivalent of more than 8,300 meals — are part of the company’s Delivering Hope to Our Neighbors® outreach to improve quality of life and build strong communities. A group of Perdue associates were also on hand to help prepare meals for the Kids Cafe program, which provides approximately 4,200 hot evening meals, tutoring, and supervision for children who might otherwise go without dinner.

“Our partnership with Perdue Farms has truly been a blessing and we are privileged to have their Southeast Distribution Center in our service area,” said Mary Jane Crouch, executive director of America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia. “A nutritious source of protein is so important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle but difficult for many to afford.”

Crouch said Second Harvest is experiencing a 20 percent increase in the need for food assistance from pre-Covid 2019. “With inflation at an all-time high, supply chain issues still prevalent and ongoing shortfalls in food donations, we are truly thankful that Perdue Farms continues to support our programs and the 21 counties that we serve. In the past five years alone, Perdue has donated over 10 million pounds of chicken products to help us ease the food insecurity burden in Coastal Georgia.”
Second Harvest currently operates its Savannah operations from multiple buildings on non-adjacent sites. Through its Feeding the Future campaign, the food bank will relocate to a centralized 145,000-square-foot facility that includes warehouse space, a commercial kitchen, and a volunteer center to pack boxes of food for community and youth hunger programs. Second Harvest will increase its annual food distribution by 10 percent, from 22.9 million pounds of food distributed annually to 25.2 million pounds.
“At Perdue, we believe that in a country as rich in resources as ours that no one should go hungry,” said Rick Corona, facility manager of Perdue’s Southeast Distribution Center in Rincon, Ga. “We’re proud to support the work of America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia, especially during these tough economic times. We hope our support through the Perdue Foundation, our ongoing protein donations and efforts of our associate volunteers provides hope for our neighbors and inspires others to support the food bank’s mission.”