Land O’Frost, the nation’s largest family-owned packaged lunch meat brand, today announced a multi-year partnership with JDRF, focused on raising much-needed funds for type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and creating awareness of the organization and their efforts to cure, treat, and prevent T1D.

This partnership builds on an informal relationship Land O’Frost has had with JDRF since 2008. Over the past three years, Land O’Frost employees have rallied behind JDRF by participating in the organization’s Walk to Cure Diabetes and other fundraising events. Embracing the challenge to help JDRF, employees have participated in cooking competitions, bean bag tournaments, buying “casual jeans day,” and most recently, a baby picture identification contest.

T1D is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. T1D affects children and adults, and lasts a lifetime. As many as 3 million people in the U.S. alone are living with T1D, and every year, more than 30,000 new cases of T1D are diagnosed – that’s 80 people per day. Until a cure is found, people with T1D have to test their blood sugar and give themselves insulin injections multiple times or use a pump – each day, every day of their lives. And even with that intensive care, insulin is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its potential complications, which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.

“We are so proud to be associated with such a prestigious organization, like JDRF, especially because it is near and dear to many of our employees’ hearts. In the past few years, we have been conducting multiple internal fundraising projects for the organization and feel that establishing a national partnership was a logical extension of our overall support,” said David Van Eekeren, president and CEO of Land O’Frost.

To kick-off the partnership, Land O’Frost is launching a three-tiered campaign on Oct. 31 called, “Pound it Out,” a play of words linked to the brand’s popular One-Pound Premium® lunch meat. The campaign aims to raise $50,000 for JDRF and features three fundraising elements including on-pack promotion, text-in donations and social media engagement.

Land O’Frost will donate a portion of each specially marked One-Pound Premium® package sold during the “Pound It Out” campaign to JDRF. Land O’Frost is also calling on its loyal consumer base to pitch in and support the cause. The promotion will also feature a text message campaign, featured in pack, asking consumers to text in a one-time $5 donation. Incorporating social media into the overall campaign, Land O’Frost has committed to donate $1 for every person who “likes” its Facebook page and follows it on Twitter, until the promotion ends.

“We are excited to have this new partnership between JDRF and Land O’Frost,” said Yvonne Miller, JDRF national director of corporate development. “Through their contributions, Land O’Frost will help to provide the dollars needed to continue our efforts to accelerate progress on the most promising opportunities for curing, better treating, and preventing T1D.”

JDRF will highlight its partnership with Land O’Frost at signature events and through JDRF’s social media channels. For more information on about T1D, visit www.jdrf.org.