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KENANSVILLE — The Christmas season will be a little easier for many local citizens, thanks to a food distribution event held Friday, Dec. 13, at the Duplin Events Center. Smithfield Foods, in partnership with Food Lion, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, and Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeastern North Carolina, distributed 1,000 Christmas meals as part of a drive-thru event.
Each household received one Smithfield hickory-smoked spiral ham, along with potatoes, stuffing mix, cornbread mix, and two cans of corn and two cans of beans from Food Lion.
“Although it is a cool morning here in eastern North Carolina in Duplin County, we’re about to do some great work in warming hearts and homes for our neighbors that are in need during this holiday season,” said Steve Evans, Smithfield’s vice president of community involvement. “We know that food insecurity is an issue throughout the year, but it becomes considerably more relevant and prevalent around the holidays, when people are gathering and they don’t have all the basic necessities to fill the gaps.”
One in seven North Carolinians are unsure where their next meal is coming from, according to Carter Crain, vice president of food procurement for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. “We want to alleviate that as much as we can, with partnerships like Food Lion and Smithfield. We’re not just here for the holidays. Thank you for the partnerships all year-round.”
Friday’s event was part of Smithfield’s Helping Hungry Homes program, said president of hog production Kraig Westerbeek. “It’s fitting that we kick off the holiday season with this event in southeastern North Carolina, which is the home of Smithfield hog production operations and many of our production facilities,” he said. “Smithfield hickory-smoked spiral hams are a classic centerpiece item for many of us on our holiday table or special occasions. If they’re not, they should be. They’re fantastic. But we’re just really glad we’re able to share this traditional cut with our neighbors. As an American food company, with deep roots here in Duplin County, feeding people is what we do best, and it’s a key part in supporting the places we call home like here in Duplin and Sampson counties.”
Westerbeek added that since 2008, the Helping Hungry Homes program has provided hundreds of millions of servings of protein to food banks throughout all 50 states.
County Commissioner Elwood Garner, who’s also a partner grower with Smithfield, also thanked all of the organizations who helped to make the food distribution happen. “I hope one of these hams came off of my farm,” he said. “It is a great honor from a county commissioner standpoint to have the relationship we have with Smithfield here in Duplin County. Agriculture is a huge part of what we do; it’s the number one industry here in North Carolina and it’s the number one industry in Duplin County. It’s great to be a part of it.”
