Contact:
Jen Sorenson
641-648-4479
jsorenson@iowaselect.com

Iowa Select, Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation Donate More than 4,000 Pork Loins for Veterans Day Celebrations Across Iowa

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (November 7, 2023) – As Veterans Day approaches, the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation is providing community organizations with meals to help keep their Veterans Day celebrations alive in towns across Iowa.

On Nov. 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.

Participating Organizations

  • Ackley: American Legion Post #252
  • Algona: American Legion Post #415
  • Algona: Moving Veterans Forward of North Central Iowa / Top’s Guns
  • Allerton: American Legion Post #379
  • Anamosa: VFW Post #4077
  • Anita: American Legion Post #210
  • Aplington: AMVETS Post #102
  • Atlantic: Atlantic Elks Lodge #445
  • Blue Grass: American Legion Post #711
  • Boone: American Legion Post #56
  • Boone: Bravo Company 248th Aviation Support Battalion SFRG
  • Boone: Boone County Veterans Affairs
  • Cedar Falls: AMVETS Post #49
  • Cedar Rapids: Cedar Rapids Elks Lodge #251
  • Cedar Rapids: Freedom Foundation
  • Central City: AMVETS Post #37
  • Charles City: American Legion Post #174
  • Charles City: VFW Post #3914
  • Clarion: Wright County Veterans Affairs
  • Columbus Junction: Midwest Military Outreach
  • Corydon: American Legion Post #68
  • Corydon: Wayne County Veterans Affairs
  • Creston: Creston Elks VA Lodge
  • Dakota City: VFW Post #5240
  • Davenport: Davenport Elks #298
  • Davenport: Quad Cities Veterans Outreach Center
  • Deep River: American Legion Auxiliary Unit Post #296
  • Denison: VFW Post #2504
  • Des Moines: AMVETS Post #2
  • Des Moines: Iowa Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation
  • Des Moines: Marine Corps League
  • Des Moines: VFW Auxiliary #9662
  • Des Moines: VFW Post #9127
  • Dubuque: Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association
  • Dubuque: Disabled American Veterans
  • Dubuque: Dubuque County Veterans Affairs
  • Dubuque: Dubuque Moose Lodge #355
  • Dubuque: Dubuque Rescue Mission
  • Dubuque: Veteran’s Freedom Center
  • Durant: VFW Post #12194
  • Dyersville: American Legion Post #137
  • Eldora: Hardin County Veterans Affairs
  • Emmetsburg: VFW Post #2295
  • Estherville: Estherville Elks Lodge #528
  • Estherville: V.A. & Elks Estherville
  • Fort Dodge: American Legion Post #130
  • Fort Dodge: Chapter 29 Disabled American Veterans
  • Fort Dodge: VFW Post #1856
  • Fort Dodge: Webster County Veterans Affairs
  • Gowrie: American Legion Post #431
  • Gowrie: Swingin’ Fore Soldiers
  • Grinnell: Grinnell Elks Lodge
  • Guthrie Center: Guthrie County Veterans Affairs
  • Hedrick: American Legion Post #83
  • Independence: American Legion Auxiliary Sheehan-Tidball Unit 30
  • Independence: VFW Post #2440
  • Iowa City: VFW Post #3948
  • Iowa Falls: Iowa Falls Elks Lodge #1674
  • Keosauqua: Van Buren County Veterans Affairs
  • Le Roy: American Legion Auxiliary Unit 79
  • Leon: American Legion Post #80
  • Leon: Decatur County Veterans Affairs
  • Madrid: VFW Auxiliary Post #5060
  • Manchester: American Legion Post #45
  • Mount Ayr: American Legion Post #172
  • Mount Ayr: Ellston Legion Post #541
  • Mount Pleasant: Healing Heroes Homestead
  • Murray: American Legion Post #405
  • Osceola: American Legion Post #69
  • Osceola: Clarke County Veterans Affairs
  • Oskaloosa: American Legion Post #34
  • Parkersburg: American Legion Post #285
  • Perry: VFW Post #2060
  • Pleasant Hill: B.P.O.E Elks Lodge #98
  • Pocahontas: Pocahontas County Veterans Affairs
  • Polk City: American Legion Post #232
  • Redfield: Redfield American Legion Auxiliary
  • Riverside: VFW Post #6414
  • Rockwell City: AMVETS Post #41
  • Rockwell City: Calhoun County Commission of Veterans Affairs
  • Sac City: Sac County Area Quilters and First Christian Church of Sac City
  • Schleswig: VFW Post #3930
  • Shenandoah: Page County Veterans
  • Sigourney: Keokuk County Veterans Affairs
  • Sioux City: 185th Air Refueling Wing
  • Sioux City: Sioux City Elks Lodge #112
  • Spillville: American Legion Post #467
  • State of Iowa: Marine Corps Detachment
  • Tipton: American Legion Post #430
  • Tipton: Cedar County Veteran Affairs
  • Toledo: Tama County Veterans Affairs
  • Tripoli: VFW Post #4013
  • Van Meter: American Legion Post #403
  • Vinton: American Legion Post #57
  • Vinton: AMVETS Post #218
  • Waterloo: HHC 1-133 Infantry
  • Waverly: AMVETS Post #79
  • Waverly: Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community
  • Waverly: VFW Post #2208
  • Webster City: Hamilton County Veterans Affairs
  • West Des Moines: VFW Post #8879
  • West Des Moines: Women Warriors Undefined
  • Whittemore: American Legion Post #425
  • Woodburn: American Legion Post #157

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Veteran George Sexton, Commander of AMVETS Post 41 in Rockwell City, Iowa, loads his truck with free pork loins and event kits to celebrate and honor those who have served our country. More than 100 veterans organizations across Iowa were served pork loins and event kits through the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation, the charitable arm of Iowa Select Farms.

Veterans Polly Graham and her husband Kirk Graham, members of American Legion Post #711 in Blue Grass, Iowa, line up to receive free pork loins and event kits to create a special Veterans Day celebration for fellow veterans and service members in their community. The Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation provided over 4,000 pork loins to veterans organizations across Iowa.