Delmarva poultry producer Mountaire Farms is sending a supply of chicken to those affected by Hurricane Florence.
A truck carrying 40,000 lbs. of chicken left a freezer location in Millsboro Wednesday afternoon on its way to North Carolina to feed those in need after the devastating storm.
Mountaire is partnering with the nonprofit Operation BBQ Relief—a group of competitive BBQ chefs volunteering to cook hot meals in support of relief efforts during natural disasters.
Mountaire spokeswoman Cathy Bassett says she worked with the chefs in Houston after Hurricane Harvey.
“They do pork BBQ, they do chicken, they do proteins and then they do the sides. Having been there and seen it, it’s something to behold—to watch the speed and efficiency with which they do this and then, of course, the organization to get it to the places where there was the greatest need,” said Bassett.
Basset says the chefs are set up to serve more than 40,000 meals a day at mobile cooking locations in Wilmington and Fayetteville, North Carolina. She says the meals will be served to first responders, volunteers and those impacted by the storm.
“If you are a representative for a church group, or a fire department, or first responders, or the Coast Guard or whatever, you actually pre-register and then you go and pick it up, or they will actually deliver these meals in bulk,” she said.
Mountaire owns a processing plant in Lumber Bridge, North Carolina that was closed for three days during Florence. Another truck with water and other supplies left Wednesday from Delaware to support the company’s employees affected by the storm.
“We’re in it for the long haul down there,” said Bassett. “We have employees that have been directly impacted—have lost their homes, are out in shelters. So our team down there has just done an amazing job to stay in touch with them and try to meet their basic needs.”