Salisbury, Md. (Tuesday, December 10, 2024) — Perdue truckers and associates joined community volunteers in Salisbury on Saturday, Dec. 2 to renew a 39-year Operation Teddy Bear tradition to deliver a little holiday cheer to residents of the Holy Center, a State of Maryland residential facility for people with mental and physical disabilities. The event is part of the company’s Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors® outreach focused on improving quality of life and building strong communities.

Operation Teddy Bear enables Holly Center residents ride in a big rig with one of Perdue’s professional truck drivers. The caravan of trucks, adorned with holiday decorations, navigates residents on an 11-mile loop in Wicomico County, beginning and ending at the Holy Center.

“Operation Teddy Bear really serves to kick off the holiday season for Perdue and its drivers,” said Chairman Jim Perdue. “Events like this really showcase the heart and soul of our drivers, and illustrate a commitment to giving back, including those members of the community who volunteer their time each year to help make this event possible.”

Operation Teddy Bear was inspired by the 1976 song “Teddy Bear” recorded by country music artist the late Red Sovine. The song tells the story of a CB radio conversation between a trucker and a housebound disabled boy who desperately wants a ride in a rig after his father, a trucker, has been killed. At the end of the song the trucker goes to pick up the boy to give him a ride and finds the boy’s street clogged with rigs and drivers who heard the conversation over the radio.

After hearing Sovine’s song, two Perdue associates were inspired to launch the Operation Teddy Bear program at Perdue to help the residents of the Holly Center. Since the program’s inception, Perdue associates and truck drivers have been volunteering every year to provide rides residents.

“For nearly four decades we have been blessed for what Perdue and its drivers so generously do for our residents,” said Tuesday Trott, executive director of the Holly Center. “Our residents so look forward each year to Operation Teddy Bear and the thrill of taking a ride in a big rig. This is a special time for them.”

About Perdue Farms
We’re a fourth-generation, family-owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers, and farmers through trusted choices in products and services.

Perdue Foods consists of a premium protein portfolio, including our flagship PERDUE® brand, Niman Ranch®, Coleman Natural®, and Yummy®, as well as our pet brands, Full Moon® and Spot Farms®, and is available through various channels including retail, foodservice, club stores and our direct-to-consumer website, PerdueFarms.com. Perdue AgriBusiness  is a leading merchandiser, processor, and exporter of agricultural products and the largest U.S. manufacturer of specialty, organic and non-GMO oils. It also ranks as one of the largest suppliers of organic feed ingredients in the world.

Now in our company’s second century, we never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever and in USDA-certified organic proteins. Learn more at Corporate.PerdueFarms.com.