Jim Beam announced a $100,000 donation to military and veteran charity yesterday. Beam’s Fred Noe and his son, Freddie, presented the checks at Fort Knox to Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit that provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors.

The contribution supports  Operation Homefront’s Holiday Meals for Military program.

According to a press release, the Holiday Meals for Military program began at Thanksgiving in 2009 following a chance encounter in a supermarket in Utica, N.Y., near Fort Drum. A soldier, his wife and infant had a handful of grocery items they could not afford, so a Jim Beam employee picked up the $12 cost, the release said. The first Holiday Meals for Military Families event was held weeks later, providing 500 meal kits to military families, and the program has since expanded to 8,500 meals kits on 25 bases this holiday season and will include items such as pumpkin pie mix, stuffing and cut green beans. In addition to Ft. Knox, participating bases include Fort Campbell, Fort Bragg, Fort Hood andIllinois’ Scott Air Force Base among others.

Jim Beam has donated more than $2.5 million to Operation Homefront through a variety of charitable programming efforts since 2008, the company said.