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Oprah’s Angel Network Donates $1M to America’s Second Harvest Network, Providing Assistance to Those Impacted by Hurricane Katrina; Food, Fund Donations From Hollywood, Corporate Donors Help Enable America’s Second Harvest to Reach Impacted Areas


WEBWIRE

CHICAGO, Sept. 6 -- As relief and recovery efforts in the Gulf region continue, America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network continues to distribute food, water and grocery products to hurricane victims. A $1 million financial donation from Oprah’s Angel Network has allowed America’s Second Harvest Network to purchase food necessary to support relief efforts at five of its food banks impacted by the hurricane, including the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas; the Houston Food Bank; the Memphis Food Bank; the Bay Area Food Bank in Theodore, Ala.; and the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.

Several celebrities volunteered at America’s Second Harvest food banks across the region, including Lisa Marie Presley in Memphis, John Travolta in Baton Rouge, Chris Rock in Houston and Jamie Foxx in Dallas.

“We are grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support from Oprah Winfrey and the Angel Network and for all our corporate partners, celebrity friends and individual donors who have donated the funds necessary to provide immediate disaster relief to America’s Second Harvest food banks,” said Robert Forney, president and CEO of America’s Second Harvest. “Together we have made a difference in the lives of those affected by the devastation, and America’s Second Harvest will continue to provide hunger relief in the coming days, weeks and months.”

Through Oprah’s generous $1 million contribution, America’s Second Harvest purchased food and grocery products from several area retail stores, including The Kroger Co. in Memphis; C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. in Alabama; Albertson’s, Inc. in Dallas; Save-A-Lot, in Baton Rouge; and Wal-Mart and H-E-B Grocery Stores in Houston. These retailers and others have made and are continuing to make significant contributions to hurricane relief and recovery efforts.

As of Tuesday, Sept. 6, The America’s Second Harvest Network has raised $6.8 million and secured more than 200 truckloads of food and water for delivery to the disaster area. This equates to more than 7.7 million pounds of product, or six million meals. Dozens upon dozens more truckloads are being staged to ship in the upcoming weeks. America’s Second Harvest expects to maintain this level of emergency distribution for an extended period of time.

While all of this is a staggering start for the relief effort, America’s Second Harvest estimates that it will take millions more dollars and millions more pounds of food and water to maintain the long-term relief effort over the coming months as the clean-up effort continues and long-term shelters continue to open across the South.

America’s Second Harvest -- The Nation’s Food Bank Network is the nation’s largest charitable hunger-relief organization with a Network of more than 200 regional member food banks and food - rescue programs serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The America’s Second Harvest Network secures and distributes nearly two billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually. The America’s Second Harvest Network supports approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies operating more than 94,000 programs including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, and Kids Cafes. Last year, the America’s Second Harvest Network provided food assistance to more than 23 million low-income hungry people in the United States, including more than nine million children and nearly three million seniors. For more on America’s Second Harvest, please visit http://www.secondharvest.org.



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