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Gov. Northam announces Smithfield Foods donation to support homeless vet programs

The philanthropic arm of Smithfield Foods has donated $150,000 to support programs for homeless veterans and their families.

RICHMOND, Va. — Governor Ralph Northam announced Thursday that The Smithfield Foundation -- the philanthropic arm of Smithfield Foods -- had donated $150,000 to support programs for homeless veterans and their families.

The donation will be designated to the Homeless Veteran Fund.

"We are grateful for our ongoing partnerships with federal, state, and local agencies, and the financial support of generous donors like Smithfield Foods that enables us to meet the needs of the more than 730,000 veterans living in Virginia and make sure that veteran homelessness in our Commonwealth is rare, brief, and non-recurring," Northam said.

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The Homeless Veteran Fund provides one-time gap assistance to homeless veterans in the process of being housed and those in danger of becoming homeless. Smithfield’s $150,000 donation adds to their initial $68,000 contribution in 2016 in support of this program. 

The program has assisted over 700 homeless veterans since its inception in 2016 by providing funding for housing deposits, rent, and utility payments.

 The Homeless Veteran Fund was established by the Virginia Veteran and Family Support Program (VVSF), which in turn is operated by the Virginia Department of Veterans Services (DVS).

"Smithfield Foods has a proud tradition of supporting military families and veterans both here in their home state of Virginia and across the nation. We are pleased that this gift will be used to provide the needed assistance for homeless veterans throughout the Commonwealth," said Frank Finelli, VVSF Board Chairman.

RELATED: New federal program designed to help local homeless veterans

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