Meals That Matter

After a deadly tornado struck the northeast Arkansas town of Wynne on March 31, a team of Tyson Foods employees went to work to help residents there recover.

As part of Tyson’s Meals That Matter program, the company dispatched several teams of employees to prepare and distribute food in Wynne. Among those was a “cook team” led by Michael Strough, a former Berryville resident who now lives in Harrison and works at Tyson’s Green Forest plant.

Strough said he first learned about the Meals That Matter program in 2017, when he was contacted by Pat Bourke, senior manager for business operations on Tyson’s sustainability team, and asked to participate in the program’s efforts after Hurricane Harvey.

“After I went, I decided I would be on every one if any way possible,” he said. “It’s the most humbling and uplifting experience that anyone could ever have.”

Tyson partners with Walmart to respond to disasters that leave residents struggling to source food, Bourke said, noting that the Meals With Matters program started after a tornado struck Joplin, Mo., in 2011.

“When you come to this site, you would see probably 25 to 30 Tyson team members in various capacities,” Bourke said in a telephone interview from Wynne on Wednesday, April 5. “And you’d see the same number of Walmart associates also at this cook site. So Tyson prepares the protein. They pass it off to the Wal-Mart team and then they build the plate out, with the vegetables, potatoes, rolls and so forth.”

Bourke said Tyson made a commitment to deliver half a million pounds of food in response to the Wynne tornado.

“It’s a very rewarding job to be able to go out and feed the public,” Strough said. “Most of them don’t have housing. They don’t have any way to eat. They don’t have any of the comfort sthat you have at your home. So they’re dependent on somebody to take care of them. And a lot of times we’re the first people they see. At that point, we will hand them a hot meal and a kind word, a hug, whatever they need.”