LOCAL PROGRAMS: Milan, Mo.

The Learners to Leaders™ program in Milan is a partnership that includes Farmland Foods, Inc., its parent company Smithfield Foods, Inc. and the Milan C-2 School District. Smithfield Foods has donated $75,000 to the district's Learning Resource Center to provide the library with additional resource materials such as books, encyclopedias, computer software and software for English Language Learners (ELL).

Milan students rely on the Learning Resource Center's materials as a primary source of valuable tools and information to help them advance their studies and grow into productive citizens. Smithfield Foods' donation to the center is funded by the nonprofit Smithfield-Luter Foundation, whose ongoing commitment to the Learners to Leaders alliance includes support for educational partnerships in communities where Smithfield's employees live and work.

"We feel the most critical element in creating a better future for today's young people is education, and that's why the employees of Smithfield Foods and our independent operating companies are committed to making a difference in the communities where we live, work and raise our families. We hope that our donation to the Learning Resource Center will help Milan students fulfill their potential and, in turn, strengthen the local community."

— Dennis Treacy
Vice President of Environmental and Corporate Affairs
Smithfield Foods, Inc.

AT A GLANCE: Milan, Missouri

  • LAUNCH DATE: 01/14/08

  • PARTNERS: Farmland Foods, Inc., Smithfield Foods, Inc., Milan C-2 School District

  • SMITHFIELD CONTRIBUTION: $75,000

  • PROGRAM DATES: 2007-08 school year

  • NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 200 to 350
ABOUT FARMLAND FOODS, INC.

Farmland Foods website link Founded in 1959, Farmland Foods is one of Smithfield Foods' independent operating companies. Farmland Foods is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., and has about 6,300 employees at its operations in Milan, Mo.; Crete, Neb.; Denison and Carroll, Iowa; Monmouth, Ill.; Wichita, Kan.; New Riegel, Ohio; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Springfield, Mass. Farmland Foods processes fresh and frozen pork products for national retail and foodservice markets, with a strong concentration in the Midwest. Farmland Foods also serves an international commodity, foodservice and retail market in Asia, Central America and Eastern Europe.

ABOUT MILAN C-2 SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Milan C-2 School District is dedicated to educating all students to high levels of academic performance while at the same time fostering positive growth in social-emotional behaviors and attitudes. The district's mission is to "accept the responsibility to teach all students so that they can attain their maximum educational potential."