DECATUR, Ala. (February 01, 2008) – Employees from multiple departments at all three Wayne Farms Decatur facilities joined forces this holiday season to help those in need in the surrounding community by collecting cans and assembling “holiday hope chests.”

Wayne Farms employees wrapped up their efforts in December and were able to contribute almost 1000 cans of food to a can-a-thon sponsored by WAFF-TV and the Volunteer Center of Morgan County. In addition to the can-a-thon, employees worked together to create approximately 40 holiday hope chests (wrapped shoe boxes filled with candy, toys and other  small gifts) which were delivered to the Center for distribution to area children.

“Decatur is the only city that houses three separate Wayne Farms facilities,” said Doug Hester, Wayne Farms area manager for north Alabama. “Because employees from all three locations worked together, this year’s can-a-thon and holiday hope chest initiative were a huge success.”

The Decatur division of Wayne Farms consists of a 72,000 square-foot fresh processing facility, an 180,000 square-foot further processing facility and a 130,000 square-foot further processing facility. The individual plants have been owned and operated by Wayne Farms since 1976, 1998 and 2006, respectively.  The Decatur division employs around 1200 people from the surrounding community.

About Wayne Farms LLC

Wayne Farms LLC is the fourth-largest vertically integrated poultry producer in the United States with annual sales exceeding $1 billion. A subsidiary of ContiGroup Companies, Inc., Wayne Farms LLC owns and operates 13 fresh and further-processed facilities throughout the Southeast, produces more than 1 billion pounds of poultry products each year, and employs more than 9,200 individuals.