As the economic impact of the pandemic—and corresponding food insecurity—continues for American families, Foster Farms has renewed its holiday hunger relief efforts with a 64,000-pound turkey donation to West Coast food banks. This donation will bring the comfort of a holiday meal to more than 80,000 people in need across three states to help address staggering food assistance needs. In the coming weeks, Foster Farms will deliver thousands of holiday turkeys to food banks from Seattle to San Diego.

According to Feeding America, an estimated 42 million people, including 13 million children, remain dependent on food assistance and are vulnerable to hunger. In California alone, one out of every five residents—eight million people—do not know where their next meal is coming from.

As part of its ongoing commitment to address food insecurity, Foster Farms has an annual tradition of donating Thanksgiving turkeys to local hunger relief organizations, most of which have partnered with the company for the last 13 years. One longtime partner in the fight against hunger is San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, which will feed 10,000 people with the 8,000 pounds of turkey donated by Foster Farms.

“Since the pandemic began, we have seen nearly twice as many families turn to us. The need continues as a majority have yet to recover, and there is no vaccine for hunger,” explained San Francisco-Marin Food Bank Executive Director Tanis Crosby. “We are grateful to Foster Farms for its continued generosity, especially during the holidays. Their donation will be a hand up again this year to the thousands in Northern California who are still struggling to make ends meet.”

“At Foster Farms, we remain dedicated to fighting hunger in our local communities and are proud to continue our tradition of donating Thanksgiving turkeys, especially this year, as families return to more traditional Thanksgiving celebrations,” said Ira Brill, vice president of communications for Foster Farms. “We hope that others who are able will join us in supporting their local food bank by donating food, money or time.”

Among the organizations receiving turkey donations this year are:

Source: Foster Farms