Chicago, Ill., 2017-Oct-18 — /EPR Retail News/ — Tyson Foods, Inc. and the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) partnered today (Oct. 16, 2017) to donate a truckload of protein totaling 36,060 pounds to the Greater Chicago Food Depository to help fight hunger in the Chicagoland area.
The Food Depository will distribute the donated food, which is equivalent to 144,240 meals, through its network of partner agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters services across Chicago and Cook County.
“The Greater Chicago Food Depository is grateful to Tyson Foods for its longstanding partnership in the fight against hunger,” said Jill Zimmerman, vice president of development at the Food Depository. “Donations of protein are important to our work of providing nutritious food options for our neighbors in need. We thank Tyson for this generous contribution and its ongoing support of our mission.”
NACS is holding its annual NACS Show at McCormick Place in Chicago this week. More than 20,000 attendees from 50-plus countries are expected to attend the event, which is one of the largest tradeshows in the country. The show features four days of general sessions, more than 50 educational sessions and more than 1,200 exhibiting companies.
“We truly believe that c-store doesn’t just stand for convenience store – it also stands for community store, and we are proud to join Tyson Foods in supporting the Chicagoland community that we call home this week during the NACS Show in Chicago,” said Jeff Lenard, vice president of NACS’ strategic industry initiatives.
Tyson Foods’ “KNOW Hunger” campaign is focused on helping more people understand and join the effort to eliminate hunger in America. The company partners with Feeding America, Share Our Strength and Lift Up America to raise awareness and help feed the hungry across the nation. Since 2000, Tyson Foods has donated more than 100 million pounds of protein in the United States.
In 2015, Tyson Foods announced its renewed commitment to hunger relief by pledging $50 million in cash and in-kind donations by 2020 in the fight against hunger, with a special focus on innovative initiatives at the local level.
“Partnering with organizations like the Greater Chicago Food Depository and NACS is important to us in raising awareness about food insecurity in communities all around the U.S.,” said Mark Purvis, vice president, convenience sales for Tyson Foods. “In this community alone, the Food Depository serves an average 200,000 pounds of food every single day. We’re honored to support those extraordinary efforts.”
To learn more about the Greater Chicago Food Depository and its hunger relief efforts, visit https://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/
NACS advances the role of convenience stores as positive economic, social and philanthropic contributors to the communities they serve. The U.S. convenience store industry, with more than 154,000 stores nationwide selling fuel, food and merchandise, serves 160 million customers daily—half of the U.S. population—and has sales that are 10.8% of total U.S. retail and foodservice sales. NACS has 2,100 retailer and 1,750 supplier members from more than 50 countries.
Source: NACS