Nice story in today's paper. I'd've cited the URL, but the Daily Press expires stories and then
charges for them.
NEWPORT NEWS -- When Jane Susan Frank sent a letter to Smithfield Packing Co. about a severe
shortage of meat for hungry local families, she didn't expect anything huge in return. Maybe a
couple of hams, or a nice box of hot dogs.
Not 10,000 pounds of meat.
Not 40 cases of pork chops, 50 cases each of roast beef, pastrami and corned beef, 118 cases of pork
rib patties and more. Not $24,650 worth of food that should go to at least 20,000 people in time for
holiday dinners.
But that's what arrived Thursday at the Foodbank of the Virginia Peninsula - the mother lode of
meat, by far the largest donation to the Foodbank. Packed in white and brown boxes, the raw and
cooked pork and beef products quickly filled up shelves and freezers that had been empty after
Hurricane Isabel and the Thanksgiving holiday.
"We were so desperately short of protein," said Frank, vice president of development for the
Foodbank. "Rice and beans and canned foods are not a good holiday meal. That might sustain people,
but it certainly will break their spirit. This is just really, really huge."
The Foodbank serves a wide region, including Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg and
Gloucester, James City, Mathews, Surry and York counties. The organization distributed more than 6
million pounds of food in the last fiscal year.
Bulk donations of meat are very rare, Frank said. Instead, people might drop off single turkeys or
hams, while supermarkets might give a box or two at a time. The Foodbank has to buy the rest.
After Hurricane Isabel, the organization stripped its shelves to help the Red Cross with disaster
relief, giving out 500,000 pounds of food in less than three weeks. An emergency food drive just
before Thanksgiving brought in more, but shelves were soon bare again.
The Christmas season is particularly hard for hungry families because children are out of school for
more than two weeks and don't get free breakfasts and lunches, Frank said. The donation from
Smithfield Packing and Gwaltney of Smithfield came just in time, she said.
While the companies regularly donate to schools, churches and civic groups, this is their first gift
to the Foodbank.
"It was a little sobering to all of us to find out how great the need is in this area," said
Keller Watts, a vice president of sales at Smithfield Packing. "Food is something that most of us
take for granted."
As workers unloaded the 18-wheeler from Smithfield, Frank stood in the cold parking lot and
hugged Watts.
"You're my new angel," she told him.
The meat will be distributed immediately to soup kitchens, churches and other organizations that
feed the hungry. The Foodbank also is using emergency funding from local governments to get through
the holidays.
Even with the unexpected bonanza, all or most of the meat likely will be gone by Christmas, said
Steve Terveer, executive director of the Foodbank. "It doesn't take long," Terveer said. "We always
need more."
Copyright (c) 2003, Daily Press