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Community Partnerships, Feeding the Hungry, Food Access, Press Releases, UFCW Values

The UFCW, Smithfield and Food Network

Jun 17, 2011

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – (June 17, 2011) – Delighted to join TODAY’s 10th annual “Lend a Hand” campaign with Al Roker, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) and Smithfield delivered 120,000 servings of protein to benefit Covenant House of West Virginia and other local charitable agencies at Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, 300 Leon Sullivan Way, at 7:00 a.m.

Covenant House, the final stop on the “Lend a Hand” philanthropic tour, is a multi-faceted, nonprofit organization that offers a variety of assistance services to the Charleston community.  In addition to a food pantry that provides nearly 5,000 meals annually, Covenant House services include a day shelter, community housing, housing assistance and community resource education.

“Feeding the Hungry” is a joint program of the UFCW and Smithfield to donate and help deliver 20 million servings of protein over three years to assistance organizations around the country. The partnership is designed to bring much needed assistance to the growing number of people facing hunger and food insecurity in our communities.

“Last year we fed over 6 million people and as we take our nationwide Feeding the Hungry Tour on the road for the second year, the UFCW is committed to ensuring that families across the country have the relief and the opportunities they need to weather the current economic crises,” said Joe Hansen, UFCW international president. “All across the country, UFCW members are on the frontlines of efforts to improve and strengthen their communities, and this partnership reflects their unwavering commitment to protect and advocate for families during tough times.”

“Smithfield is proud to continue the second year of our hunger relief tour.  We’re well on our way to feeding 20 million people,” said Dennis Pittman, public affairs director, Smithfield.  “We hope to continue increasing awareness and encourage individuals and companies to donate to their local food banks.”

Community Partnerships, Economic Justice, Food Access, Food Safety, Press Releases, Retail Food, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS JOIN NATIONAL EFFORT TO BRING FRESH FOOD AND GOOD JOBS TO FOOD DESERT NEIGHBORHOODS

Apr 12, 2010

(NEW YORK, NY) – The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) proudly announces its support for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative legislation introduced today by New York legislators Senator Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez (D-NY).

The legislation will provide $1 billion through loans and grants to help build approximately 2,100 new grocery stores in high need areas across the country, including an estimated 273 stores in New York City. The initiative would create an estimated 200,000 new jobs nationally.

The Healthy Food Financing Initiative is a critical part of rejuvenating and revitalizing underserved neighborhoods both in terms of food quality and quality jobs that can support a family.

New York-based UFCW Local 1500 is a leading partner in the New York FRESH Initiative which serves as a model for the national legislation and has successfully launched two major supermarkets into previously underserved areas in the Bronx.  Those supermarkets also added hundreds of new jobs and subsequent income to area residents.

Supermarkets act as anchors for economic development in a neighborhood.  In community after community, good supermarket jobs provide workers with good wages, career opportunities and most importantly, quality health care coverage that is key to a healthy lifestyle.   UFCW members in New York and across the U.S. take pride in serving their customers with good food.   This national legislation will provide needed funding to expand those opportunities into even more markets.

The UFCW applauds Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Velasquez for their vision in bringing worker organizations together with the economic development leaders and health policy advocates to ensure that new food outlets also provide good career jobs and training opportunities for new employees.

We believe that working together works.  With the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, we will:

  • Create new jobs from building new supermarkets in underserved neighborhoods;
  • Create new jobs from operating those stores; and
  • Create new jobs from related development which will grow up and around the new stores.

All the while, providing millions of residents with access to good, healthy, affordable food.

Community Partnerships, Feeding the Hungry, Food Access, Press Releases, UFCW Values

UFCW and Smithfield Foods Launch Feed the Hungry Program

Nov 09, 2009

The UFCW and Smithfield Foods are launching a joint Feed the Hungry Program today in New York City to bring much needed assistance to the growing number of people facing hunger and food insecurity in our communities. The project will help deliver more than one million servings of protein to the Food Bank of New York City.

Today’s kick-off event is the first in a multi-city tour across America that will reach from coast-to-coast. The UFCW and Smithfield plan to donate at least 20 million servings of food to a local food bank at each of the scheduled stops.

The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that more than 36 million people in the United States, including 12.6 million children, live in households considered to be food insecure. That is more than 1 in 10 households who experience hunger or the risk of hunger.

The UFCW is committed to ensuring that families across the country have the relief and the opportunities they need to weather the current economic crises. All across the country UFCW members are on the frontlines of efforts to improve and strengthen their communities, and this partnership reflects their unwavering commitment to protect and advocate for families during tough times.

This partnership is about bringing together organizations, including our represented grocery stores, with the resources, the relationships and the know-how to ensure that vulnerable communities across the country have access to well-supplied food banks. Our goal is simple: Get good, nutritious food to as many families, in as many communities, as possible.