Perdue Farms recently announced it has partnered with the Delmarva Shorebirds minor league baseball team and three Delmarva Peninsula food banks to deliver 173,000 meals across the region’s communities in the Perdue Strike Out Hunger Challenge on Delmarva.
“The impact of the pandemic has brought so much uncertainty and challenge to individuals and families struggling with food insecurity on the Delmarva Peninsula,” Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation Executive Director Kim Nechay said. “After pausing the Strike Out Hunger Challenge last year because of the pandemic, we’re pleased that this year’s campaign once again provided a collaborative platform to raise public awareness about the problem of hunger and food insecurity and deliver much-needed relief to our neighbors in the communities where we live and work.”
Since 2011, Perdue, the Shorebirds, food banks, and the community have generated more than 1.2 million meals for those in need on Delmarva, according to Perdue’s press release.
Each food bank was required to engage the Delmarva community to raise the equivalent of 10,000 meals to claim their equal share of the first $10,000 of the Foundation challenge grant, Perdue said. This included any combination of food collected, monies collected and donated, or volunteer hours throughout the duration of the Shorebirds’ season. Perdue also donated $10 for each time the Shorebirds’ pitchers struck out an opposing batter, up to $5,000.
