SPRINGDALE, AR ?" Tyson Foods announced that it donated more than 270,000 pounds of food last week as part of disaster relief efforts in states affected by recent devastating storms.

"We're shocked and saddened by the impact of these powerful spring storms and are pitching in to help those whose lives have been turned upside down by the devastation," said Donnie Smith, president and CEO of Tyson Foods.

Tyson has sent six cooking teams to northern Alabama to help feed disaster relief workers, employees, contract poultry growers and residents who have been affected by the storms. It also delivered four truckloads of food ?" meat, poultry and tortillas ?" as well as ice and 27,000 bottles of water.

Tyson Foods employs 2,000 people in Alabama and contracts with 340 poultry growers within the state. Some northern Alabama chicken farms that raise birds for Tyson had chicken houses destroyed or damaged; Tyson is helping with those farms?? clean up efforts.

In central North Carolina, Tyson donated truckloads of chicken and tortillas to the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and the Christians United Outreach Center. The company??s Sanford plant was not damaged, though plant employees raised $1,750 and donated clothing and household items to help a co-worker whose home was destroyed by the storm.

In Arkansas, Tyson shipped a truckload of food to the Arkansas Food Bank Network of Little Rock to assist with those affected by tornadoes that hit the central region of the state.

Tyson employees in South Dakota and Iowa collected and donated more than $2,000 ?" the majority to the Siouxland Area Chapter of the American Red Cross ?" to help with disaster relief in parts of Iowa affected by tornado damage. Additionally, the company donated ground beef to two food pantries.