In my life, I’ve never known anyone who fought so hard to live—not simply remain alive, but truly enjoy the days she had on earth.  Five years ago, Sue was diagnosed with her second round of cancer, and a local oncologist, known for buoying his patients with sometimes unrealistic optimism, told her, “I think we can get you three years…”   Sue outlived his most optimistic estimate by two years, enduring weekly chemo until a few weeks ago, and missing very little work until just short of a year ago.

Sue began her career at Tyson in our Joslin, Illinois plant, near her hometown of Davenport, Iowa, where she developed a deep respect for the people who make it possible for us to stay in business: the Team Members on the line and the managers who keep the plants running.  When she came to work in our corporate headquarters, she brought that respect, and always strived to maintain the trust and confidence of the people in Tyson communities around the country.

Sue was passionate about life.  When she came to Tyson ten years ago, she immediately became enthusiastically involved in hunger relief, eventually becoming the company’s most ardent advocate for the cause.  She played a defining role in helping us engage our own Team Members in hunger relief, establishing Tyson as an organization that didn’t just write the check, but was authentically engaged.  Her legacy in this area will remain, as this issue has become a part of our corporate culture.

Sue was fiercely dedicated to principles, and held fast to her beliefs, sometimes with a stubborn streak that made her hard to put up with (I now say that with a smile).   When she set her mind to doing something, you’d best not be standing in her path.

Sue leaves an enormous group of friends and family, from all over the country.   We’ll miss her laughter, her enthusiasm and her energy.  We’ll miss her determined passion.  But her indomitable spirit will remain, to inspire us to live every single day to its fullest, and love those around us.

If you wish to honor Sue’s memory, there’s nothing you could do that would please her more than making a donation in her name to your favorite hunger relief organization.

 Here he shares his testimony in a KNOW Hunger video, talking about the nature and scope of hunger, and what people can do to get involved.

Ms. Brown started Sowing Seeds for Life 5 years ago to feed the low income and poor in the Los Angeles County Area twice a month. Her food pantry started with feeding 25 people a month and now feeds over 3000 people a month. Sowing Sees for Life is an all-volunteer organization averaging 35 volunteers a month that help to distribute food. Ms. Brown has used her own finances to pay for the delivery of the food and to buy refrigeration units to keep food fresh.

Today, we delivered part of the ten truckloads of food resulting from our Share Your Knowledge campaign, in which readers were asked to share an important fact about hunger in a community and the work of the foodbank there.

Our drivers delivered a truckload of food–37,000 pounds to Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. We’ll be posting photos of the other donations as we make them this week.

Our drivers delivered a truckload of food–37,000 pounds to Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank. We’ll be posting photos of the other donations as we make them this week.

John Kreger, Director of Food Resources (Houston Food Bank), Ryan Bosse, Tyson Plant Manager, and Jerry Koenig, Tyson Driver

Today, we delivered part of the ten truckloads of food resulting from our Share Your Knowledge campaign, in which readers were asked to share an important fact about hunger in a community and the work of the foodbank there.

Our drivers delivered a truckload of food–37,000 pounds to the Houston Food Bank. We’ll be posting photos of the other donations as we make them this week.

Our drivers delivered a truckload of food–37,000 pounds to the Gleaners Community Food Bank. We’ll be posting photos of the other donations as we make them this week.

Yesterday, we delivered the first two of ten truckloads of food resulting from our Share Your Knowledge campaign, in which readers were asked to share an important fact about hunger in a community and the work of the foodbank there.

Our drivers delivered two truckloads of food–74,000 pounds to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. We’ll be posting photos of the other donations as we make them this week. 

Share this message on any of your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Google+), and Tyson Foods will donate food to Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in Los Angeles. For each “share” between now and April 23, we’ll donate 100 pounds, up to a 35,000 pound truckload.

Los Angeles Regional Food Bank provides 60 million pounds of food a year to over one million individuals in Los Angeles.

Share Your KNOWledge is a part of Tyson Foods’ KNOW Hunger campaign, which strives to help everyone understand the scope and nature of hunger in their community. For this effort, we’ll be donating up to ten truckloads of food to deserving Feeding America food banks in April.

Share this message on any of your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Google+), and Tyson Foods will donate food to Capital Area Food Bank of Texas in Austin, Texas. For each “share” between now and April 20, we’ll donate 100 pounds, up to a 35,000 pound truckload.

Capital Area Food Bank of Texas provides more than 24 million pounds of food annually to people in Central Texas.

Share Your KNOWledge is a part of Tyson Foods’ KNOW Hunger campaign, which strives to help everyone understand the scope and nature of hunger in their community. For this effort, we’ll be donating up to ten truckloads of food to deserving Feeding America food banks in April.