Thanksgiving is a season for giving thanks and gratitude, and NCC is grateful for all of our members who not only are giving back this holiday season, but work year-round in their local communities on initiatives to fight food insecurity, provide for our service members and veterans, assist in natural disaster recovery, enrich educational opportunities, and help tackle mental health issues, just to name a few. Click through for just a few examples of how the chicken industry and allied companies are embracing the spirit of giving all over the country.
Amick Farms has donated over 11,000 pounds of product to local soup kitchens this month in South Carolina and Maryland.
Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country are donating surplus food through the Chick-fil-A Shared Table program, helping local partners create 1 million meals in the last 30 days for neighbors experiencing food insecurity. More than 1,500 food banks and community organizations use the surplus food to make meals, such as chicken parmesan or a stir fry, to serve their communities. This year, donations from Chick-fil-A restaurants participating in Shared Table have helped create 10 million meals and more than 45 million meals have been created since 2012.
This fall, Chick-fil-A, Inc. is also awarding $1.5 million in grants to more than 20 hunger-relief nonprofits nationwide and has contributed over $20 million in local hunger grants in honor of new restaurant openings in the last five years.
The CHS Foundation and CoBank are joining forces to support Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, with a combined $2 million donation. The CHS Foundation and CoBank will each contribute $1 million to help food banks meet growing demand for food, with a focus on rural communities. Funds from the CHS Foundation and CoBank will support rural food banks, ensuring support reaches the places where the need is most immediate and where their members, customers and employees live and work. Funds from the CHS Foundation and CoBank will support rural food banks, ensuring support reaches the places where the need is most immediate and where our members, customers and employees live and work.
“Food insecurity is a growing challenge in rural America, where families are struggling to put meals on the table,” says Tom Halverson, CEO of CoBank. “Our mission is rooted in strengthening rural communities, and this partnership with the CHS Foundation and Feeding America is about delivering nourishment where it’s needed most.”
Cobb has donated more than 11,000 pounds of protein to the Manna Center in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, reinforcing its ongoing commitment to fighting hunger and strengthening local communities. This contribution is part of Cobb’s Miles That Matter (MTM) program, which turns team members’ physical activity—walking, running, biking, swimming, etc.—into meaningful impact. For every mile logged, Cobb donates a pound of protein to hunger relief efforts. The Manna Center of Siloam Springs provides essential food and clothing assistance for up to 800 families each week, and this donation will help feed thousands across Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma
Fieldale Farms has beefed up its ongoing assistance in donating chicken products to local food banks in Georgia communities where the company operates.
House of Raeford Farms is donating more than 276,000 pounds of chicken to communities across their southeast footprint. These product contributions are being distributed to food pantries, churches and other local ministries with a distribution network to their food insecure neighbors, and a variety of other organizations with outreach programs.
In addition, recognizing that unmet emotional, physical, and social needs can significantly hinder a student’s ability to learn, House of Raeford Farms FLOCK recently partnered with Duplin County Schools in North Carolina to help address a growing mental health challenge. Since the fall of 2024, FLOCK, the nonprofit arm of House of Raeford, has contributed $160,000 to support a behavioral health initiative established by the school system nine years ago.
“Mental Health and Youth Development are two pillars of FLOCK’s mission to the community,” said Dave Witter, FLOCK board member. “Our board recognizes that the dysfunctional emotional state of many children is a problem with several contributing factors, including family environment. However, with kids spending most of their daytime in school, what better place to address this need directly.”
Lincoln Premium Poultry donated 200 frozen turkeys to the local homeless shelter in Fremont Nebraska, called LifeHouse. Additionally, LPP collected coats through a coat drive and donated approximately 50 coats, as well as mittens, hats, and gloves. Finally, their team is providing Christmas to three different families through Fremont’s “Adopt A Family” program.
Mountaire has kicked off its annual Thanksgiving for Thousands program, where the company partners with communities to pack and distribute complete meal boxes for families who need a little extra help this Thanksgiving. For more than 30 years, Mountaire has hosted this event to help with food insecurity during the holidays. This year’s event takes place on Saturday, November 22nd, and the goal is 42,500 total meal boxes divided into four locations. The menu includes a plump Mountaire roaster chicken, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce, yams, stuffing, gravy, and brownie mix. The company relies on hundreds of non-profit organizations and churches that arrive that day, pick up their allotment, and distribute to the community every year.
On Delmarva, the event will take place at the Selbyville processing plant in Delaware. And in North Carolina, events will be held at the Lumber Bridge and Siler City processing plants, and the South River Baptist Church in Statesville.
All of Peco Foods live operations facilities conducted a canned food drive competition where they collected 24,237 canned goods and non-perishable items that were donated to local food banks. The company’s Pocahontas Plant donated 480 pounds of frozen breast meat to the Mission Outreach Soup Kitchen in Arkansas, and the corporate office made donations to the West Alabama Food Bank and the Tuscaloosa Community Soup Bowl.
Perdue Farms provided thousands of their neighbors with high-quality protein to help ensure children, seniors, and families have nutritious food on the table. Here are some examples of how the company is Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors® through their outreach to improve quality of life and build strong communities:
- 2,000-plus families and individuals benefited from protein donations in partnership with the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department’s fifth annual Thanksgiving Giveaway near Atlanta.
- 1,000 children and families received meals boxes supplemented with Perdue chicken in partnership with the Harry K Foundation and the Food Bank of Delaware’s “Thanksgiving for All” meal distribution through schools and nonprofit partners.
- Working with two inner-city public schools in Baltimore, 650 families benefited from their chicken donation to support the Ed Reed Foundation founded by the former Baltimore Ravens safety.
- In the company’s hometown of Salisbury, Maryland, they joined the city’s police department and a host of generous community organizations to deliver meal bags, including a Perdue roaster chicken, to 500 families in need through a distribution event.
- In Sioux City, Iowa, protein donations and associate volunteers are helping provide nutritious meals through a mobile pantry in partnership with Sunnybrook Hope Center and the Food Bank of Siouxland.
- In Cambridge, Maryland, they helped serve 350 families struggling with food insecurity in partnership with the Cambridge Police Department and Delmarva Community Services.
- The Perdue AgriBusiness team in Cofield, North Carolina joined the Food Bank of the Albemarle to deliver meals and protein to more than 260 families during a mobile pantry distribution.
- Through their Southeast Distribution Center in Rincon, Georgia, they provided protein to support Stronger Together, an initiative from Savannah Feed the Hungry, helping deliver more than 1,000 meals across Chatham County.
Throughout the holidays, Simmons Foods will hold Chicken Days to give Simmons Team Members and Growers the opportunity to purchase high-quality chicken at discounted prices, helping families save while enjoying the food they help produce. It’s more than a sale—it’s a celebration of community and appreciation for their people.
Wayne-Sanderson Farms’ recent and upcoming charitable initiatives as we head into Thanksgiving include:
- Companywide First Responder Appreciation Events: Across the company’s 24 fresh and further-processing facilities in seven states, their teams served 1,600 meals to local law enforcement officers, firefighters, and EMTs.
- Supporting Veterans with Soldiers Angels: In honor of Veterans Day, WSF donated 4,600 pounds of chicken to Soldiers’ Angels, the largest nonprofit food provider serving veterans exclusively in the U.S. This contribution helped feed over 300 veterans and their families in the greater Atlanta area during their Veterans Day food distribution event.
- Disaster Relief Partnership with Mercy Chefs: The company continues to support Mercy Chefs’ mission of preparing and delivering meals to disaster-affected areas and vulnerable populations worldwide, including:
- Contributing 60,000 pounds of chicken to support communities in Jamaica.
- Providing and delivering 20 cases of chicken breasts biweekly to Black Mountain, NC, to assist victims of Hurricane Helene as they recover and rebuild.
- Mississippi Food Network: WSF recently completed their annual donation, delivering over 36,000 pounds of chicken to support local communities in the state.
- Companywide Food Drive: Ongoing through Thanksgiving at all of WSF locations, this initiative supports local food pantries across the Southeast, with the company matching every pound of donated food with an equal pound of chicken.
Zoetis is supporting our service members and first responders through their proud support of Folds of Honor through the company’s Patriots’ Pledge Program. The 2025 program concluded in November and Zoetis has announced it will donate $600,000 in 2025 to the organization which provides life-changing academic scholarships to the spouses and children of injured or fallen U.S. Armed Forces members and First Responders. Proceeds from Zoetis’ Poulvac® E.Coli and Embrex® brands went toward this program, and Zoetis is thankful for their customers’ support of honoring the legacy of our nation’s heroes.
