KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec. 08, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Farmland is partnering with former professional baseball player Mike Sweeney, Harvesters – The Community Food Network and Santa Claus to help fight hunger this holiday season. Sweeney and Farmland are spreading the word that while milk and cookies are great, what Santa really wants this year is glorious bacon! From now through Dec. 24, for every person that pledges on social media to leave bacon for Santa this Christmas Eve, Farmland will donate one pound of protein to the local Kansas City food bank.
The campaign will kick off at Union Station with a launch event on Dec. 8. Starting at 3 p.m. local time, Sweeney will join Farmland and Santa’s elves to rally Kansas City residents to leave bacon for Santa this year and trigger a donation to the food bank. All locals are encouraged to come out for the chance to meet-and-greet with Sweeney, enjoy some delicious bacon treats, and give back to their community.
“What I love about the Farmland Bacon for Santa campaign is how it combines two things I’m most passionate about – giving back to those in need and my love of bacon,” said Mike Sweeney. “I’m thrilled to partner with Farmland to help give Santa what he really wants for Christmas and more importantly to help strike out hunger in the Kansas City area this holiday season.”
Fans can make the pledge by simply sharing the hashtag #BaconForSanta on their social media channels now through Dec. 24. For every pledge received, Farmland will donate one pound of protein to Harvesters, up to 25,000 pounds.
“Giving back to the local communities we serve is a cornerstone of Farmland’s core values, so we’re excited to be working with Mike and Harvesters to support such a great cause,” said Dennis Pittman, Senior Director of Corporate Communications for Smithfield. “With your help, we can kick off Santa’s journey with the smell of sizzling bacon – as so many do to start their Christmas morning.”
“With more than 48 million Americans, including 15 million children, unsure of where their next meal will come from, it’s vital that we provide as much support as possible to help battle food insecurity,” said Harvesters President and CEO Valerie Nicholson-Watson. “We’re pleased to partner with Farmland on this campaign to help raise awareness for domestic hunger and ensure more families have meals this holiday season.”
To learn more about the Farmland Bacon for Santa campaign from Jolly Old St. Nick himself, visit www.FarmlandBaconClub.com . In addition to hearing Santa’s plea for bacon, bacon aficionados can sign up for exclusive bacon content and a chance to win a Bacon Club sweater now through Dec. 31.
For more information on Farmland, please visit FarmlandFoods.com , @FarmlandFoods or www.Facebook.com/FarmlandFoods . Farmland is a brand of Smithfield Foods.
About Farmland At Farmland, we are passionate about pork. We have been since 1959, when we first started working side-by-side with American farm families to offer the best quality pork cuts. More than 50 years later, our unsurpassed passion and pride are stronger than ever, serving retail and foodservice customers across the United States and in 25 countries on five continents. Our natural, fresh pork products — bacon, chops, loins, ribs, sausage and ham — are tender, flavorful and made with the highest quality ingredients. To learn more about Farmland's passion for pork, please visit www.FarmlandFoods.com and www.Facebook.com/FarmlandFoods . Farmland is a brand of Smithfield Foods.
About Smithfield Foods Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Farmland®, Armour®, Cook's®, John Morrell®, Gwaltney®, Nathan's Famous®, Kretschmar®, Margherita®, Curly's®, Carando® and Healthy Ones®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com .
About Harvesters—The Community Food Network Harvesters is a regional food bank and was Feeding America’s 2011 Food Bank of the Year. Serving a 26-county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, Harvesters provides food and related household products to more than 620 not-for-profit agencies including emergency food pantries, community kitchens, shelters and others. Agencies in Harvesters’ network provide food assistance to as many as 141,500 different people each month. Harvesters, which was founded in 1979, is a certified member of Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, serving all 50 states. For more information, visit www.harvesters.org .
Media Contacts: Hunter PR for Farmland Tiffany Daggett (212) 679-6600 tdaggett@hunterpr.com Farmland Diana Souder (757) 357-1675 DSouder@smithfield.com Harvesters – The Community Food Network Sarah Biles (913) 216-8596 SBiles@harvesters.org
