News : Vinton Legion among recipients of Pork Loin for Veteran's Day Celebrations

As Veterans Day approaches, the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation provided community organizations with meals to help keep their Veterans Day celebrations alive in towns across Iowa.

On November 1, more than 100 community organizations from throughout the state came to the Iowa Select headquarters in West Des Moines to pick up more than 300 cases of nearly 4,000 pork loins to bring back to their towns for their Veterans Day celebrations. 
Each case of pork loins is accompanied by an event kit, complete with patriotic aprons, disposable placemats, buttons, table decorations and Styrofoam cups for coffee.
"After attending several local Veterans Day events last year, we were touched to see how close-knit and meaningful each celebration was for veterans, their families and friends, and their communities," said Jen Sorenson, Communications Director for Iowa Select Farms. "We saw free breakfasts, programs at the schools, free suppers at the Legion, presentations of Quilts of Valor, bands playing 'America The Beautiful.' Something truly special happens at these Veterans Day events and we wanted to contribute to help keep these celebrations going."

Many of the community organizations that picked up cases of pork loins have said that they were able to improve their Veterans Day event or add a new event thanks to the donation.

The Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation, the charitable arm of Iowa Select Farms, is proud to support veterans. The Foundation's Project Food and Fellowship is a grant and giving program designed to create memorable and enriching social experiences for Iowa military families and veterans. 

Project Food and Fellowship assists family readiness coordinators, military community volunteers and event coordinators with creating and hosting social gatherings for active duty, reservists, veterans, Gold Star families and all military families.

About the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation
The Hansens, who founded Iowa Select Farms and New Modern Concepts in Iowa Falls, Iowa, established the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation in 2006 to relieve hunger, support military families and strengthen efforts to find a cure for childhood cancer while improving the quality of life for cancer patients and their families.

About Iowa Select Farms
Iowa Select Farms is the largest pork producer in Iowa and is committed to responsibly producing safe, nutritious, and high-quality pork for its customers and the food companies they serve. The company has 242,500 sows and annually produces 1.5B pounds of pork. With 800 swine farms across the state, Iowa Select Farms is one of the leading economic engines to Iowa's rural communities through employing more than 1,200 people, contracting with more than 650 farmers and supporting hundreds of local businesses throughout the state.

Just a few of the veterans groups in the area that were among the participating organizations:

* Cedar Falls: AMVETS Post #49
* Cedar Rapids: Cedar Rapids Elks Lodge #251
* Cedar Rapids: Freedom Foundation
* Independence: American Legion Auxiliary Sheehan-Tidball Unit 30
* Independence: VFW Post #2440
* Vinton: American Legion Post #57
* Vinton: AMVETS Post #218
* Waterloo: HHC 1-133 Infantry