Hy-Vee distributes hams to the community

By Ashley Luthans

Hy-Vee, in collaboration with local first responders, distributed 200 free hams to community members on Wednesday.

As part of the “Hams for the Holidays” program, the St. Joseph Hy-Vee is one of 18 participating locations giving out a total of 5,000 hams this year.

The distribution event began at 3 p.m. at Hy-Vee, located at 201 N Belt Highway, and a line of cars stretched around the building hours before the event started.

Community members showed excitement for the free holiday food.

Rick Thompson was first in line to receive a ham and had waited in the line since 1 p.m.

Thompson expressed gratitude for the program.

”It makes me feel good,” Thompson said. “It really helps for, you know, I got grandbabies and everything. So it helps out quite a bit.”

This is the seventh year of the “Hams for the Holidays” program.

The program is in collaboration with Hormel Foods who provide the hams. The goal of the program is to help fight food insecurity.

Hy-Vee is an employee-owned company that operates across nine states in the Midwest.

The grocery store-chain has more than 570 business units and employs over 75,000 people.