Tyson & NACS Make Sizeable Donation to Las Vegas Food Bank
LAS VEGAS — Tyson Foods Inc. and NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing, teamed up on Monday to donate a truckload of protein to Three Square Food Bank to help eliminate hunger in southern Nevada. The donation comes at the end of Hunger Action Month in September and two weeks before the annual NACS Show in Las Vegas.
"Convenience stores are closely tied to the communities they serve, especially around charitable giving. Our industry donated close to $100 million last year to local charities and we are delighted to work with these great partners to give back to Las Vegas," stated Jeff Lenard, vice president of NACS strategic industry initiatives.
Including the latest donation, Tyson Foods has provided nearly 470,000 pounds of product to Three Square over the years, according to the announcement.
"Protein is a precious resource to a food bank and often is hard to come by due to higher costs," said Brian Burton, CEO and president of Three Square Food Bank. "The contributions of companies such as Tyson Foods allow us to carry out our mission of providing wholesome food to hungry people, while passionately pursuing a hunger-free community. We are extremely grateful for this generous donation, which will be distributed to food-insecure individuals in Southern Nevada."
Three Square, which serves Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties, will distribute the donated food through its service network of agency partners. This includes nonprofit and faith-based organizations that provide daily meals and pantry services to food-insecure Nevada residents.
Tyson's "KNOW Hunger" campaign is focused on helping more people understand and join the effort to eliminate hunger in America. The Springdale, Ark.-based company partners with Feeding America, Share Our Strength and Lift Up America to raise awareness and help feed the hungry across the United States. It has donated more than 100 million pounds of protein since 2000.
Earlier in September, Tyson announced its renewed commitment to hunger relief by pledging $50 million in cash and in-kind donations to the fight against hunger over the next five years, with a special focus on innovative initiatives at the local level.
"Partnering with organizations like Three Square Food Bank and NACS is important to us in raising awareness about food insecurity in communities all around the U.S.," said Kevin Miller, senior marketing manager for Tyson Foods. "In this community alone, Three Square distributes more than 34 million pounds of food and product each year. We're honored to get to be a part of that."