A ham give-away event – called Hams for the Holidays – will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, at the Rock Island County Fairgrounds at 4200 Archer Drive in East Moline.
The event is being presented by Hy-Vee and Hormel.
At the event, Hy-Vee employees and local first responders will distribute 300 Hormel Cure 81 hams while supplies last. In past years, all the hams were given away before the scheduled end of the event. Hundreds of vehicles have lined up to get the hams hours before the event started. For instance, in 2023, people were in line for a free ham at noon for an event that started at 4 p.m. at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport.
Hormel officials said the hams each weigh about three to four pounds.
Hams for the Holidays is a collaboration between Hy-Vee and Hormel Foods. They will deliver a total of 5,000 hams at 20 different locations across Hy-Vee’s nine-state region this holiday season. Now in its eighth year, Hams for the Holidays is an effort to fight food insecurity and help families in need in communities served by Hy-Vee stores.
Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating more than 560 business units across nine Midwestern states with sales of more than $14 billion annually.
Other Iowa give-aways
Hormel officials said ham give-away events are also set for:
- Des Moines – Wednesday, Dec. 3, noon to 2 p.m. at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
- Chariton – Thursday, Dec. 18, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Chariton Distribution Center.
- Dubuque – Wednesday, Dec. 3, 4 to 6 p.m. at the Church of the Nativity.
Over the past eight years, Hy-Vee and Hormel have partnered to provide more than 26,000 Hormel Cure 81 hams to those in need. Throughout the years, more than $16 million in hams have been donated, feeding tens of thousands of families across the country.
