Eckrich, Operation Homefront and Randalls Food Markets Honor Military Family

Eckrich, the makers of naturally hardwood smoked sausage and savory deli meats, teamed up with Randalls Food Markets and Operation Homefront to honor a Cedar Park, Texas military family.

Eckrich surprised the Smith family at Randalls in Austin, Texas to honor and thank the family for their service. They were presented with a gift of free groceries for a year at Randalls, valued at more than $13,000, courtesy of Eckrich. As part of the event, crowds of shoppers were treated to live country music and samples of delicious Eckrich smoked sausage and deli meat.

Carl Smith served in the U.S. Air Force as a Security Forces Senior Airman for three years and was deployed for six months overseas. His wife, Lacy, is his full-time caregiver and a member of Operation Homefront's Hearts of Valor® program, a network of more than 3,000 caregivers of wounded service members which provides annual retreats, support groups and online communities. The family has seven children.

"This is truly a blessing," says Lacy Smith. "We have nine members in our family and now we can feed everyone. This is a tremendous holiday surprise from Eckrich and Randalls."

The surprise is part of the 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 to support military families across the country," said Jennifer Zmrhal, Smithfield Foods senior director of marketing. "We appreciate the partnership from Randalls and we are honored to present the Smith family with one year of free groceries."