As a result of successfully completing the intensive program, which runs from eighth to 12th grade, eight Denison students will be receiving four-year, full-tuition scholarships to attend Iowa State University. Among the requirements of the program, students have to complete a science fair project, maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0, and participate in 75 percent of the program’s activities.  

The students, graduates, and their families will have the chance to celebrate all their hard work at the Learners to Leaders/Science Bound Spring Honors Banquet on Wednesday, May 16, at the Boulders Conference Center in Denison. Guest speakers include Todd Gerken, Farmland’s vice president of operations, and Dave Townsend, Smithfield’s assistant vice president of environmental affairs.     

Since 2007, Farmland Foods and Smithfield Foods have sponsored the Learners to Leaders/Science Bound program, an educational partnership with Denison local schools and Iowa State University. The program’s goal is to inspire ethnically diverse students to work toward degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

Eckrich is partnering with Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency financial assistance to the families of United States service members and wounded warriors. Eckrich is donating a portion of the proceeds from certain product purchases to Operation Homefront, up to $200,000.

“Eckrich is proud and humbled to partner with Operation Homefront to help support America’s military families,” said Joseph Sebring, president of the John Morrell Food Group. “Creating special family moments is ingrained into our company’s mission and values. That’s why we’re giving back and supporting this cause.”

In addition to the cash donation, this spring and summer Eckrich will help host a series of Operation Homefront’s Military Family Thank You Days cookouts, which feature great food, outdoor games, and music for military families. The first cookout was held on April 28 in San Antonio, followed by events in Dallas, Oklahoma City, Fort Riley, Kansas, Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus, and Bentonville, Ark.

The partnership also is supported with a broader Eckrich marketing campaign that features television, radio, online, and out-of-home advertising, as well as using Facebook, to further raise awareness of military families’ needs. 

Krakus presented 19 students with awards, and another 24 received honorable mentions for their excellence in art and writing. The award-winning artwork was also exhibited at Polish organizations in the Chicagoland area.

Additionally, Krakus provided $1,000 individual grants to three Polish schools and donated a $3,000 grant to the Polish Museum of America.

Earlier this year, Krakus launched the Legend of Krakus, a unique initiative that was designed to enrich educational opportunities and celebrate Polish heritage for Polish-American youth through a modern interpretation of the original play King Krakus & the Dragon. Students submitted their creative interpretations of this old-world legendary play through a multimedia art contest.

Entries are now being accepted for round two of the King Krakus awards. To find out more about the awards, visit http://www.thecep.com/ or see the Legend of Krakus program by visiting http://www.krakusfoods.com/community. 

 Today we are excited to release a new video, “Producing Enough Sustainable Food,” that ponders the question and shows what we, and the pork industry, are doing to help feed the world’s growing population with food that is produced both responsibly and sustainably.

 “We’re very excited about this video because it provides an engaging way to show what Smithfield Foods, along with the rest of the pork industry, is doing to meet the challenge of providing not only sustainable food, but enough of it to feed a rapidly growing population,” said our CEO Larry Pope.

 The video is available on YouTube. 

The meat, donated by Smithfield Foods, Smithfield Prod and Agroalim Products, was distributed at social canteens, daycare centers, hospitals and orphanages in Timisoara and surrounding areas. Some packages of protein products were also donated to individuals.

“March 8^th was a special day for our company because that was the day three years ago when we first launched our Food for the Soul program,” said Cristina Bodea, public relations manager for Smithfield Prod. “It’s also the day that we celebrate the joy of giving in Romania.”

We applaud the efforts of our international divisions to support their neighbors, friends and families in the Timisoara area. 

Healthy Ones introduced red-themed packaging and other promotional materials on tub lunchmeat and deli products, certified “Extra Lean” by the American Heart Association, at grocery stores nationwide. In addition, five cents from each purchase of a participating product was donated to WomenHeart during February, totaling to a maximum donation of $50,000!

For more information on product offerings from John Morrell, please visit http://johnmorrellfoodgroup.com.

Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science, the report emphasizes the importance of increasing global food supplies in a sustainable way while navigating worldwide policy and logistical constraints.

As a global food company, food security is something that Smithfield Foods recognizes as a growing and complex issue and one that requires collaboration and new approaches to solve.

“Our perspective is that everyone should have access not only to affordable food, but food that they can trust is produced in a sustainable and responsible way,” said Dennis Treacy, our executive vice president and chief sustainability officer who served on the Food Security for All as a Sustainability Challenge Committee and contributed to the research report.

Click here to access the report.

Ray will travel to Karima, Kenya, to be with members of the Kikuyu tribe. Along with other youth leaders and the 410 Bridge group, the group’s focus will be to expand an existing water project by building a water distribution system. This will allow the people of Karima to have greater access to clean and safe drinking water.

Additionally, the group will assist in the construction of a new school building at the primary school to help house all the students that attend school there.

Please check back for part two of this story when Ray returns with full post-trip details and pictures. 

On Friday, Aric Almirola and Richard Petty joined the Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes initiative to deliver 120,000 servings of protein for hungry Florida families through the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Aric and Richard also met up with fans at the Smithfield tent where they signed autographs, snapped photos and offered up a chance to win various prizes.

We’re honored to be part of such a dedicated and outgoing team and thank Richard and Aric for their effort to help alleviate hunger in central Florida.

So, be sure to tune in tonight and cheer on the RPM team and hopefully see Aric leading the pack when the checkered flag flies!

As part of the program, Krakus has commissioned Little Stars, the popular Chicago Polish theater group, to create and perform an original play titled “King Krakus & the Dragon” at Chicagoland Polish schools. The play is a modern interpretation of an infamous Polish fable and will feature seasoned Polish stage actors combining history with humor and song.

The Legend program will also sponsor both a multimedia art contest and a creative essay competition. Winning students and schools of the art contest, developed in conjunction with the Council of Educators in Polonia, will receive prizes and education grants. Participation in the essay competition is open to all high school and elementary school students in the Chicagoland area.

We wish everyone luck!