Smithfield, Retailers Busy Raising Funds for Breast Cancer Research

ROSEANNE HARPER

SMITHFIELD, Va. — Smithfield Lean Generation has launched a “Deli for the Cure” campaign supporting breast cancer research, and retailers — many of them large chains — are joining the effort.

The Smithfield Deli Group earlier this month announced the campaign, which seeks to raise $250,000 to support research and to raise awareness and increase early detection of breast cancer.

Among retailers participating are Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh; Ingles Markets, Asheville, N.C.; and Price Chopper Supermarkets, Schenectady, N.Y. Other high-visibility chains are expected to participate, a Smithfield Deli Group spokesman told SN.

Here's how it works: For every pound of Lean Generation product sold, 5 cents of the proceeds will be contributed to the fund for fighting breast cancer.

The effort will include all Lean Generation deli items, and the fund-raiser will be highlighted on all point-of-sale materials, in consumer advertising and on the company's website.

Giant Eagle officials commented on the fund-raising drive, and their support of it.

“Initiatives such as charitable giving are socially responsible, and allow customers to feel good about items they may have purchased anyway,” said Voni Woods, Giant Eagle's senior director of deli.

“Giant Eagle supports numerous community events, as well as the United Way, Children's Hospital, Race for the Cure and other nonprofit organizations. We proudly support similar efforts made by our valued vendor partners.”

Breast cancer is the leading cancer among white and African American women, according to the National Cancer Institute, and the American Cancer Society indicates that breast cancer incidence in women has increased from one in 20 in 1960 to one in eight today.

“With the launch of Deli for the Cure, the Smithfield Deli Group joins with key retailers across the country to provide consumers with a powerful way to offer support for breast cancer research, awareness and early detection efforts with their deli purchases,” Harry Tillman, Smithfield Deli Group's vice president of business development, said in a statement to the press at the time of the launch.