Hormel Foods and Safeway Donation Commemorates One-Year Anniversary of Oakland's First Contactless Drive-Through Food Distribution

OAKLAND, Calif., April 9, 2021, /3BL Media/ - As Easter and spring break approach, donation of 10,000-plus hams and jars of peanut butter will help Alameda County Community Food Bank serve record need.

It’s been one year since Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB) opened its first contactless drive-through distribution to serve spiking demand resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that first distribution – which served 28 cars – the food bank has helped more than 1,000 households each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at one of the largest drive-through distributions in the region. To commemorate this anniversary and to help ACCFB meet community needs for Easter and spring break, team members at Hormel Foods and grocery chain Safeway will donate 3,780 Hormel® Cure 81® half hams and 8,820 jars of SKIPPY® peanut butter.

The donation, made on March 31, will be distributed across the county through the food bank’s partner agency network and direct distribution programs.

“Hormel Foods is proud to partner with Safeway and Alameda County Community Food Bank to support hunger-relief efforts in their communities,” said Kelsey Tynan, Hormel® Cure 81® brand manager at Hormel Foods. “The Hormel® Cure 81® Hams for Hunger® program highlights our relationship with Safeway and Alameda County Community Food Bank, and we are honored to work together and make such a substantial contribution for those in need.”

Begun in 1989, the Hormel® Cure 81® Hams for Hunger® program is a partnership between Hormel Foods and grocery retailers across the country. Throughout the years, more than $15 million in hams has been donated, feeding tens of thousands of families. Last year alone, more than 55,000 hams (an estimated retail value of $1.1 million) were donated to those in need.

“Safeway believes strongly in community partnership,” said Wendy Gutshall, director of public affairs for the Safeway Northern California Division. “We’re proud to be a part of this important collaborative effort with Hormel Foods and the Alameda County Community Food Bank to help feed people in need. We take pride in giving back to the communities we serve and working in collaboration with local hunger-relief organizations to provide assistance in times of crisis and throughout the year.”

Alameda County Community Food Bank, which has been at the forefront of hunger-relief efforts since 1985, is serving unprecedented demand resulting from COVID-19 and the subsequent economic impact. Over the last year, ACCFB has increased its food distribution by more than 50 percent and has expanded its programming to include contactless drive-throughs and home delivery, in addition to partnering with its partner agency network, which has been serving more clients than ever.

“Partnerships like these are critical to our ability to provide more than 4 million meals worth of food every month,” said Suzan Bateson, executive director at Alameda County Community Food Bank. “We’ve been able to meet the demand of this last year only because of an outpouring of support, and we’re extremely grateful to Hormel Foods and Safeway for this generous donation. The pandemic has created a crisis unlike any before. It’s going to be a long, steep climb out of this event for hundreds of thousands of us, but with the support of partnerships like this we’re confident that our community can emerge from this crisis stronger than ever.”