Cargill Beef Sponsors ‘Homes for Our Troops’

Cargill’s Wichita, Kan.-based beef business is sponsoring “Help a Hero Come Home” with a new initiative designed to raise money and awareness for Homes for Our Troops, a national non-profit dedicated to helping military members who have returned home with serious injuries since Sept. 11, 2001.

More than 1,600 U.S. military veterans have incurred life-altering combat injuries during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom, requiring specially adapted homes. Homes for Our Troops has built more than 130 homes in 35 states and now builds approximately 40 houses annually.

Cargill’s ground beef initiative will include in-store ground beef promotions and burger grilling events throughout the U.S. over the next 12 months. Funds raised will be used for materials and labor to build homes that will be provided to qualifying injured veterans at no cost.

“We appreciate and salute those service members who have served our nation to promote liberty and defend freedom in faraway places,” said Katie Blick-White, associate brand manager for Cargill Beef in Wichita. “We believe all veterans should be supported and acknowledged for the sacrifices they have made, and through this initiative we are delighted to be part of an effort to provide deserving military heroes with a place they can call home for themselves and their families.”

Cargill beef retailers will have the opportunity to display point-of-sale materials in support of the program, including posters, signage, on-pack stickers applied to ground beef products, checkout lane donation forms and regionally tailored handouts.

Additional promotional elements will include a special paint scheme on the No.6 Cargill Beef Ford Mustang driven by Fenway Racing’s Trevor Bayne on June 28, 2013, in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Kentucky Speedway. A dedicated website also will provide more information on Homes for Our Troops and its mission.

Founded in 1865, Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. The privately held company employs 142,000 people in 65 countries.