Arkansas' Walmart Inc. and Tyson Foods on Thursday announced donations to help federal workers affected by the partial government shutdown.
Walmart Inc. is donating $300,000 to organizations supporting federal employees.
The Bentonville retailer said in a news release that it will give $100,000 each to Feeding America's Shutdown Response Fund, the United Way's new United for U.S. Fund, and the Coast Guard Foundation. All these programs are seeing an increase in demand for services, especially in areas hardest hit by the shutdown, the release said.
"As the government shutdown continues, many impacted workers have turned to support organizations to help put meals on tables, pay utility bills and even cover health care costs," Dan Bartlett, Walmart's executive vice president of corporate affairs, said in the release. He said that while the company supports food banks year-round with in-kind food donations from its stores, "we felt it important to not only build on that commitment, but also offer extra support" to affected families and communities.
More than 800,000 federal employees and others whose jobs are funded by the U.S. government are currently either working without pay or are on furlough.
Tyson Foods of Springdale announced plans Thursday to deliver more than 85 tons of chicken, the equivalent of more than 685,000 meals, to three social service agencies near Washington, D.C.
Social service agencies offering hot meals to those in need have seen a demand increase in the weeks after the government shutdown began. So far, federal workers have gone 35 days without paychecks.
"We want to do our part to help federal workers and their families who have been going without pay due to the shutdown," Justin Whitmore, Tyson's chief sustainability officer, said in remarks to reporters.
According to the company's plans, three truckloads of chicken will go to Capital Area Food Bank over the next three weeks; a 14,000-pound shipment of chicken will go to DC Central Kitchen later this month; and a 40,000-pound shipment of chicken will go to USO Metro, a nonprofit that serve members of the military and their families, in early February.
Since 2000, Tyson has donated more than 100 million pounds of food to struggling communities across the nation, often after natural disasters, such as hurricanes, occur.
This is the company's first effort to donate food during a lapse in federal funding.
Business on 01/25/2019