OK Foods and the River Valley Regional Food Bank (RVRFB) announced on Tuesday a strategic partnership that will provide 500,000 pounds of chicken to the food bank over the next five years or 100,000 pounds per year. This week, the River Valley Regional Food Bank received 27,750 pounds of chicken that will help provide 125,000 meals to families in the region.
“We are excited to begin delivering on our commitment to the River Valley Regional Food Bank,” said Russ Bragg, OK Foods senior vice president of supply chain. “It is our goal at OK Foods to nourish the world. 125,000 meals will certainty have an impact on food insecurity in our local community,” Bragg said.
Sebastian County has a child food insecurity rate of 30 percent, totaling 6,700 children in Fort Smith alone. The RVRFB, in conjunction with the Crawford-Sebastian County Community Development Council, has completed renovation of a new facility including new refrigeration and freezer space to accommodate more donations. The new facility allows the RVRFB to increase its capacity to service food pantries and feeding agencies across its seven county region.
“Putting this strategic partnership with OK Foods in action will provide sustained, quality protein so desperately needed by river valley families,” said Ted Clemons, executive director of the River Valley Regional Food Bank. The RVRFB is a member of Feeding America.
The RVRFB recently upgraded its storage capacity. The new facility provides four times the freezer space and ten times the refrigeration space as the old location, which helps the RVRFB to accept large shipments of proteins and produce.
The River Valley Regional Food Bank serves 8 counties in West Central Arkansas, namely, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Polk, Scott, Sebastian and Yell, through a network of 189 member agencies. In an area where just over 300,000 live, there are over 53,000 classified as food insecure and the food insecure include 25,000 children. The food bank solicits, stores and distributes food and related products, provides service programming and raise public awareness about hunger and food banking’s role in alleviating it. Visit www.RVRfoodbank.org.
Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, Feed America provides food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger.
Founded more than 80 years ago, OK Foods has evolved from a livestock and poultry feed manufacturer to one of the world’s largest fully-integrated chicken producers. In November 2011, OK Foods was integrated into Industrias Bachoco located in Celaya, Mexico. Today, the OK Foods family includes more than 3,000 team members.
