Tyson Foods, Inc. and McDonald’s partnered to donate 1 million pounds of protein to hunger relief agencies across the country.  

The donated food, which is equivalent to four million meals, will be distributed to Chicagoland hunger relief agencies, including the Northern Illinois Food Bank and the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Donations will also be distributed across Tyson Foods network of Community Pantry Partners in Tyson communities in Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, and Missouri.

“No one in our community should ever have to worry about where their next meal is coming from,” said Julie Yurko, President and CEO of Northern Illinois Food Bank. “This donation will provide our neighbors with much-needed access to nutritious protein to help keep them and their families healthy and nourished. We thank Tyson Foods and McDonald’s for their continued commitment to help us solve hunger for our neighbors in need.”

To date, McDonald’s has donated $19.02 million in food, equating to more than 12.3 million total pounds, to over 130 organizations that feed U.S. families. McDonald’s restaurants also served more than 12 million free Thank You Meals, valued at more than $63 million. This included more than 700,000 hot meals a day to nurses, doctors, firefighters, police officers, EMTs, hospital maintenance staff and more.

“We’re proud to support and feed our communities, especially in these uncertain times,” said Marion Gross, McDonald’s U.S. Chief Supply Chain Officer for North America. “This food donation will provide in-demand protein to local food banks, as they continue to help our neighbors and communities struggling with food insecurity.”  

In mid-March, Tyson announced that the company had donated more than 4 million pounds of food, equivalent to 16 million meals, to team members, Feeding America food banks, community pantries near its operations and other hunger relief agencies. As of mid-August, that number increased to 104 million meals, or 26 million pounds of food, including millions of pounds donated directly to hourly team members as they continue the inspiring work of keeping our country fed.

“Partnering with McDonald’s and hunger relief agencies is important to us raising awareness about food insecurity in communities all around the U.S.,” said Greg Lancelot, vice president, sales, Tyson Foods McDonald’s Business Unit. “Northern Illinois Food Bank distributed more than 80 million meals across the suburbs of Chicago and Northern Illinois last year and the Food Depository’s network of programs provides more than 170,000 meals each day. We’re honored to support those extraordinary efforts.”

Source: Tyson Foods