Paula Deen Donates 500 Smithfield Hams to Tampa's America's Second Harvest Food Bank

Paula Deen Donates 500 Smithfield Hams to Tampa's America's Second Harvest Food Bank

TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The America's Second Harvest food bank in Tampa received a surprise -- and most welcome -- visitor on Wednesday when Food Network celebrity cook and best-selling cookbook author Paula Deen stopped in to donate 500 Smithfield hams for needy families.

(Photo:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071214/AQF075)

"We were taken completely by surprise, but we are so grateful for Ms. Deen's generous donation," said Conway Jensen, President of America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay. "During the busy holiday season it's always difficult for us to get enough donations to meet the needs of area families, so Ms. Deen's timing couldn't have been better."

The 500 Smithfield Crunchy Glazed Honey Spiral Sliced Hams, which are formulated with Deen's personal recipe, were produced at the nearby Smithfield Plant City processing facility.

"I decided it might be nice to take some of those delicious hams over to the America's Second Harvest food bank while I was in town visiting with the Smithfield employees in Plant City," Deen said. "I'm a mother, a grandmother and a cook, and I just love feeding people."

Deen hosts two of her own TV shows -- Paula's Home Cooking and Paula's Party -- on the Food Network and is the best-selling author of seven cookbooks. She also publishes a lifestyle magazine called Cooking With Paula Deen and owns and operates a Savannah, Georgia, restaurant with her two sons called The Lady & Sons. Deen is a partner with Smithfield in a joint marketing venture which has resulted in the development of such products as her personal recipe Smithfield Crunchy Honey Glazed Spiral Sliced Ham. Sales of this brand-new ham have exceeded all expectations and the ham is now distributed nationwide.

Jensen added that Smithfield's Plant City facility has been a valued food bank donor over the past several years. "We're fortunate that Smithfield is our neighbor closeby, and a very good one at that. America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay is always in need of meats, and Smithfield comes through when they can. In my mind, it's no wonder that Paula Deen chose to partner with them."

About America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay

Founded in 1982, America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay procures surplus foods from growers, manufacturers, supermarkets, and organized community food drives and distributes it to the hungry through a network of over 300 charitable organizations across ten counties in west central Florida. The Food Bank provides enough food for 50,000 meals each week -- to feed the working poor who struggle to get by, grandparents fulfilling the role of parents once again, the disabled who can no longer work, and those simply finding the road back from hard times. The Tampa-based food bank is an affiliate of America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization with a national Network of more than 200 regional Member food banks and food-rescue programs, serving all 50 states and Puerto Rico. http://www.a2htampabay.org/

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Photo: NewsCom:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071214/AQF075
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Source: America's Second Harvest

CONTACT: Marc Sutherland of America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay,
+1-813-254-1190, ext. 106

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