Press Release
Oregon Food Bank Receives Donation of Foster Farms Turkey to Feed 15,000 Area Residents
Oregon Food Bank Receives Donation of Foster Farms Turkey to Feed 15,000 Area Residents
Donations of Thanksgiving turkey will help meet surge in demand, reaching 120,000 people along the West Coast
Today, Oregon Food Bank received a delivery of 12,000 pounds – more than six tons – of donated turkey from family- owned Foster Farms. The 1,000 donated turkeys will be distributed in the coming week to Oregon Food Bank partner agencies and will feed more than 15,000 residents across Oregon and Southwest Washington this Thanksgiving. Seattle area families are receiving another 12,000 pounds of donated turkey from Foster Farms that is being distributed this week by Northwest Harvest.
Family-owned Foster Farms stepped up its COVID-19 hunger relief efforts this month, increasing its number of donated Thanksgiving turkeys by close to 60 percent over last year to help meet the staggering need for food assistance. All told, its 96,000 pounds of donated turkey will help feed more than 120,000 individuals struggling with food insecurity from Seattle to San Diego. The Thanksgiving turkey donations are an annual tradition that Foster Farms began in 2008. Earlier in the pandemic, the company donated more than three million servings of poultry to food banks in California, Oregon, Washington, Alabama, and Louisiana.
Demand for food assistance has risen sharply in the wake of recent wildfires and the ongoing pandemic, with one in six people now facing hunger across Oregon and Southwest Washington. “Oregon Food Bank has been able to meet this crisis head-on with the support of longstanding partners like Foster Farms,” shared Oregon Food Bank CEO Susannah Morgan. “This is the worst hunger we’ve faced in at least a generation — and it’s the continued generosity of industry and community partners that has kept food flowing to hard-hit areas throughout the region.”
“We hope that our turkey donations will help bring a sense of normalcy to the thousands of families in need this Thanksgiving,” said Ira Brill, vice president of communications for Foster Farms. “We must continue to find ways to social distance and be safe, but nobody should be denied participating in this tradition because of the economic impact of COVID-19. We ask everyone that can to join us by donating to food banks in their local communities.”
Community members can support Oregon Food Bank’s mission to end hunger and its root causes at oregonfoodbank.org. Find food assistance and other critical resources at oregonfoodfinder.org.
About Foster Farms
Since 1939, West Coast families have depended on Foster Farms for premium quality chicken and turkey products. Family-owned and operated, the company continues its legacy of excellence and commitment to quality established by its founders, Max and Verda Foster. Foster Farms specializes in fresh, all-natural chicken and turkey products free of preservatives, additives, or injected sodium enhancers. Based in California’s Central Valley, with ranches also in the Pacific Northwest, the company’s fresh chicken and turkey are produced in or near each region served. Foster Farms also produces delicious pre-marinated, ready-to-cook and fully cooked products that meet the quality and convenience needs of today’s home cooks, retailers, warehouse clubs and foodservice customers. The company’s commitment to excellence, honesty, quality, service, and people is a source of great pride, and a longtime family tradition.
About Oregon Food Bank
At Oregon Food Bank, we believe that food and health are basic human rights for all. We know that hunger is not just an individual experience; it is also a community-wide symptom of systemic barriers to employment, education, housing and healthcare — including racism, sexism and transphobia. That’s why we work systemically to achieve our mission to end hunger and its root causes: we foster community connections to help people access nutritious food; and we build community power to dismantle systems and policies that drive hunger and poverty.
