Shawnee Mission, Kan., July 19, 2019— Seaboard Foods' employees chose to support Ability KC in their Kansas City metro community giving efforts by offering a monetary donation of $10,000 and volunteering at their Ability KC Day at the Lake event at Smithville Lake in Smithville, Mo., last week.
At Ability KC's Day at the Lake event, Seaboard Foods employees served 250 Prairie Fresh® pulled pork sandwiches and barbecue-style sides for more than 40 individuals with spinal cord injuries, spinal cord disease or amputations and more than 160 volunteers. Longtime partner, Operation BBQ Relief, prepared the Prairie Fresh® pork butts.
"Volunteers from the community come out to give experiences and opportunities on the water to people with spinal cord injuries, spinal cord disease and amputations," says Shannon Lepper, Ability KC employee in the adult medical rehabilitation sector. "I have heard participants say that this is the one day that they feel normal again."
Individuals could enjoy hours of freedom on the water riding on the pontoon, flying through the water by water skiing or kayaking on the beautiful lake during the day-long event. They wore customized safety equipment and water-trained volunteers helped at the event.
About Seaboard Foods
As part of a uniquely connected food system, Seaboard Foods relentlessly seeks a better way to produce wholesome Prairie Fresh® pork by purposely connecting every step between its farms and family tables around the world. Operating in five states and employing more than 5,000 people, Seaboard Foods' continued commitment to creating the most sought-after pork ensures the well-being of its animals, the environment, employees and the communities they call home. Headquartered the Kansas City Metro, products sold domestically are marketed under the Prairie Fresh® pork brand and internationally under the Seaboard Farms® brand.
Sold and marketed by Seaboard Foods, Prairie Fresh® is the official pork supplier to Operation BBQ Relief (OBR).
About Operation BBQ Relief
Founded in 2011 in the wake of the devastating tornado in Joplin, Mo., Operation BBQ Relief® has provided approximately 2,961,800 hot barbecue meals in 26 states and 60 communities. The organization has more than 4,000 registered volunteers who travel to hard-hit areas to barbecue and serve food to hungry citizens. (www.operationbbqrelief.org)
Operation BBQ Relief provides compassion, offers hope and friendship to those whose lives have been affected by disasters across the United States. They leverage expertise in cooking and catering barbecue meals with their ability to quickly mobilize their teams into any area where disaster disrupts and tears apart the lives of Americans.
About Ability KC
Ability KC is proud to celebrate 72 years since the beginnings of each agency in 1947. Thousands of lives have been changed and celebrations of successes have occurred due to the generosity of the Kansas City community.
Ability KC brings together Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City and Children's Therapeutic Learning Center. Annually, more than 2,700 individuals with disabilities and their families receive services for outpatient medical rehabilitation, therapeutic preschool, and employment services. In addition, multiple specialty programs and services are offered, such as neuropsychology and rehabilitation psychology, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), corporate partnerships for employment opportunities and much more.
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