PECULIAR, Mo. — After sending three truckloads of Prairie Fresh® pork to support Operation BBQ Relief’s (OBR) deployment in Port Charlotte, Fla., Prairie Fresh volunteers cleaned and organized the OBR warehouse in Peculiar, Mo., this past week. Fifteen employees from Seaboard Foods, a producer of Prairie Fresh pork, organized the warehouse and four storage containers filled with equipment and supplies to restock for future OBR deployments.
“We are happy to help Operation BBQ Relief in any way we can. They have done all the heavy lifting by feeding Florida residents this past month. The work we performed should make responding to the next emergency easier for staff and volunteers,” said Seaboard Foods Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Chad Groves.
Prairie Fresh has donated pork for 509,000 meals to OBR this year, much of it feeding those affected by Hurricane Ian and the first responders helping. OBR deployed to Florida in early October to feed residents impacted by the category 4 hurricane that was the deadliest to hit the state since 1935. The hurricane carried 150-mile winds and a storm surge claiming over 150 lives in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Cuba and causing over $50 billion in flooding and other destruction of property.
During this deployment, OBR served its 10 millionth hot meal since it was founded in 2011 following the Joplin, Mo., tornado. Since 2015, Prairie Fresh has been the official pork supplier to Operation BBQ Relief and has donated pork for 3.5 million meals to the organization.
About Operation BBQ Relief:
Operation BBQ Relief is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in May 2011 in response to a need for tornado relief efforts in Joplin, MO. Competitive pitmasters from eight different states answered the call to feed displaced families and first responders. Together, they were able to serve over 120,000 meals in a thirteen-day period. This experience of building a network to feed individuals in need has been the inspiration for Operation BBQ Relief. To date, Operation BBQ Relief has provided over 10 million meals throughout the United States and internationally following natural disasters and through The Always Serving Project, benefiting the homeless, first responders, veterans, and service men and women.
For more information, visit www.obr.org or follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @opbbqrelief.
About Prairie Fresh:
Prairie Fresh® is the brand of a uniquely connected food system relentlessly seeking a better way to produce wholesome pork by purposely connecting every step between its farms and family tables around the world. Marketed and sold by Seaboard Foods, Prairie Fresh is a proud supporter of Operation BBQ Relief (OBR). Since 2015, Prairie Fresh has donated more than 3 million servings of pork to OBR for disaster relief and other programs. For more information, visit prairiefresh.com or follow on Facebook and Instagram @prairiefresh.