Eckrich, Operation Homefront, and Marc’s Partner to Honor Military Family on Veterans Day

LISLE, Ill., Nov. 11, 2016 -- Eckrich, the makers of naturally hardwood smoked sausage and savory deli meats, teamed up with Marc’s grocery store and Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families, to honor a Fairview Park, Ohio military family on Friday.

The Glenn Family Receives $5000 in Free Groceries at Marc’s, Courtesy of Eckrich

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/98dff2f1-3722-436a-b2a5-5a8519a49713

To honor the Glenns for their service, Eckrich presented the family with a gift of $5,000 in free groceries at Marc’s in Parma, Ohio. As part of the event, crowds of shoppers were treated to samples of delicious Eckrich deli meats and an appearance by Cleveland Country radio station 99.5. 

Jim Glenn served for more than five years as a combat engineer in the US Marine Corps. He was deployed to Iraq and later awarded numerous medals, ribbons, and certificates for his service. His wife, Lyndsay, is his caregiver and a member of Operation Homefront’s Hearts of Valor program. The program is a network of more than 3,000 caregivers of wounded service members which provides annual retreats, support groups, and online communities. The family has two children.

“This is a great example of how when you give back and serve your country, good things can happen when you least expect it,” said Jim Glenn. “We need more organizations out there like Eckrich, and we are extremely appreciative and grateful for this gift.”

The surprise is part of an ongoing campaign by Eckrich to honor, thank, and support military families through its partnership with Operation Homefront. Eckrich, in its fifth year of partnership with Operation Homefront, has donated more than $2.5 million to the organization since 2012.

“Eckrich is proud to continue its support of military families across the country,” said Jennifer Zmrhal, Smithfield Foods senior director of marketing. “We appreciate Marc’s partnership in presenting the Glenn family with $5,000 in free groceries.”

For more information about Eckrich, please visit www.eckrich.com or follow Eckrich on Facebook and Twitter.

Eckrich is a brand of Smithfield Foods.

About Eckrich
Founded by Peter Eckrich in 1894, Eckrich has a rich heritage starting from a small meat market in Fort Wayne, Ind. Through it all, Eckrich meats have been recognized for their great taste and supreme quality, craftsmanship, care and pride. For more information, visit www.eckrich.com.

About Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Nathan's Famous®, Farmland®, Armour®, John Morrell®, Cook's®, Kretschmar®, Gwaltney®, Curly's®, Margherita®, Carando®, Healthy Ones®, Krakus®, Morliny®, and Berlinki®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.

About Operation Homefront
A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront builds strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. With more than 3,200 volunteers nationwide, Operation Homefront has provided assistance to tens of thousands of military families since its inception shortly after 9/11. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefront’s expenditures go directly to programs that provide support to our military families. For more information, go to www.OperationHomefront.net.

Contact:
Faye Shroff
Breaking Limits for Eckrich
Cell: (704) 591-4353
E-Mail: [email protected]