Perdue Protein Donation Benefits Families Of Children Enrolled In Bertie Youth Inc. Backpack Program

Through a collaboration between three community organizations and Perdue Farms, families of children enrolled in the Bertie Youth Inc. Backpack Program will have extra protein on their tables.

Perdue Farms has donated nearly 10,000 pounds of nutritious “no-antibiotics-ever” chicken to Youth Bertie Inc. in Bertie County to help families struggling amid the pandemic. The donation is part of Perdue Farms “Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors” initiative. The protein will be distributed to children and their families via a voucher system through the Good Shepherd Food Pantry in Windsor. Each voucher entitles a family to 5 to 10 pounds of protein.

“Food Bank of the Albemarle is always grateful for the generosity of our donors, and this protein from Perdue will provide much-needed nutritious food for these families,” said Liz Reasoner, executive director. “We are proud to partner with Youth Bertie and Good Shepherd Food Pantry to help get these resources into the homes of people in need.”

Vouchers are redeemable in March, April and May on the second and third Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the regular pantry distribution, and on the fourth Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to noon, at Good Shepherd Food Pantry located at 1008 N. King Street in Windsor.

According to the Food Bank of the Albemarle, one in four children in Bertie may not know where they will get their next meal. Children facing hunger tend to grow up in a family where a parent or parents also face hunger.

“Feeding children and families struggling with food insecurity is a main priority of our Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors initiative,” said Frank Koekkoek, director of Perdue operations in Lewiston. “We know we can’t do it alone though and are proud to partner with the Food Bank of the Albemarle, Youth Bertie and the Good Shepherd Food Pantry to improve the quality of life for our neighbors in Bertie County.”

“On behalf of Youth Bertie Inc. backpack initiative and the 200-plus+ elementary school children and their families that we are blessed to provide weekend food support to in this our sixth year, we offer a rousing thank you to the Food Bank of the Albemarle, Perdue Farms, and our special partners at Good Shepherd Food Pantry for their help in providing protein vouchers to the families we serve,” said Ron Wesson, co-founder and executive director of Youth Bertie Inc. “Together, we take a bold step forward in the fight against food insecurity.” “We have, unfortunately, seen food insecurity in this community grow over the last few years; especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we have also seen our support from corporate and foundation partners grow as well to meet this pressing need,” Wesson added.

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