Helping Friends, Families and Neighbors with Operation Christmas Meal On the Go
posted on Friday, December 8, 2017
“It’s incredible to be here in my hometown, helping friends and neighbors that I know could really use it this time of year,” said Tim Hermsen, a Senior Finishing Supervisor with Iowa Select Farms and long-time resident of Iowa Falls. “To be able to help these people that truly need it is amazing and I’m so happy to be a part of this event.”
We kicked off our Operation Christmas Meal: On-the-Go deliveries this morning and can’t think of a better place to have started than our hometown and headquarters of Iowa Falls. It was one of twelve stops that our team will be traveling to within the next week, donating 500 fresh pork loins for families in-need at each stop.
“We really wanted to give back to the communities all across Iowa, not just Des Moines where we typically do Operation Christmas Meal,” explained Allen Whiley, Director of Grow-Finish. “These communities that we’re visiting today have supported our business throughout the years and this is our way of saying, ‘thank you’.”
After delivering nearly 500 pork loins in Iowa Falls, our team hit the road and headed west towards Webster City. There, we handed out an additional 500 loins; however, it only took about 45-minutes!
“There is such a need here in Webster City,” said Karen Hendricks, a volunteer at the Trinity Lutheran Church Food Pantry, a long-time friend of Iowa Select Farms and the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation. “A lot of the families we serve are elderly, homeless or don’t have transportation so it’s difficult for them to get out and access quality food. These pork loins are so big and nutritious, we’re really able to make them stretch a long way.”
Our third and final stop of the day took us to Clarion where our crew continued the Operation Christmas Meal tradition of employees passing out pork loins while dancing and singing along to holiday tunes. “This is just such a fun atmosphere to be a part of,” said Logan Sweers, an Outreach Specialist with Iowa Select Farms. “You can’t help but come to this event and leave with a smile on your face. Not just us, but also the people receiving these loins.”
Operation Christmas Meal: On-the-Go will hit the road (quite literally!) again on Monday with our sights set on Creston, Osceola and Humeston. On Tuesday we will be traveling to Parkersburg, Riceville and Osage and then on our fourth and final day we’ll be in Lake City, Sac City and Pocahontas.
At each stop we will be delivering 500 pork loins, while supplies last -- a total of 6,000 pork loins for local Iowans in need this holiday season.
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