SPRINGDALE, Ark., May 2, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The fight against childhood hunger in communities nationwide received a boost today from Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN). Today, Tyson announced its team members across the United States have raised $150,000 to help fight hunger in their local communities. The money was raised last fall during a companywide fundraising program for hunger relief called Powering the Spirit(tm). The donation is part of Tyson's ongoing commitment to be a leader and supporter of hunger-relief initiatives. Since 2000, the company has donated more than 3 million dollars and 42 million pounds of chicken, beef and pork products to more than 400 hunger-relief agencies nationwide.
In just a few short months, Tyson team members in more than 50 communities from Buffalo, New York, to Pasco, Washington, raised Powering the Spirit funds through cooking events and sales of a specially produced cookbook featuring recipes from the kitchens of Tyson team members. The campaign is an annual fundraising effort by Tyson team members coordinated with the national non-profit organization Share Our Strength, which administers the funds raised.
"To fight childhood hunger, it takes each of us sharing our strength as Tyson Foods team members nationwide have done," said Bill Shore, founder and executive director of Share Our Strength. "Through their fundraising and donation efforts, Tyson Foods team members have empowered families and the organizations that support them to ensure all children have access to the nutritious food they need to learn, grow and thrive."
Paul Karkianen is manager of the Tyson facility in Garden City, Kansas, whose team-members were among the top fund-raisers nationwide. "Our team and the people in this community came together to recognize that the issue of hunger exists in Finney County, Kansas," stated Karkianen. "I'm incredibly proud of what they accomplished in helping the organizations who work to end hunger in our community."
Tyson's Powering the Spirit program joins Share Our Strength in its core mission to end childhood hunger. Since 1984, Share Our Strength has partnered to invest in the missions of more than 1,000 hunger-related organizations around the globe.
Powering the Spirit
Raising funds to fight childhood hunger began in the kitchen-savvy hands and creative-thinking minds of many Tyson team members. From selling baked goods and sack lunches to competing in tug-of-wars, Tyson team members across the United States worked hard to raise money for their local communities. Some examples include:
* The Shelbyville, Tennessee, Tyson plant sold the highest
number of Tyson Powering the Spirit cookbooks company-wide.
* In Joslin, Illinois, Tyson team members delivered more than
500 sack lunches around the Quad Cities as a fundraiser.
* In Buffalo, New York, Tyson team members invited the Food
Bank of Western New York to participate in an on-site bake
sale held at the plant.
* To raise funds in Waterloo, Iowa, teams hovered dangerously
close to a mud pit in a tug-of-war competition that raised
more than $20,000 for the effort.
* In Finney County, Kansas, team members made enchiladas for
sale, sold popsicles and burgers and played host to several
tournaments and raffles.
Powering the Spirit began in 2006 as a new signature Tyson Foods fund-raising program to raise funds and awareness for the fight against childhood hunger. Team members will continue the fight against childhood hunger when the 2007 Powering the Spirit campaign kicks off. This year's campaign will offer a second edition of the cookbook with more than 400 new recipes and innovative and fund-raising activities.
Tyson's Fight Against Hunger
Tyson has made significant impact in its fight against hunger through partnerships with Share Our Strength, and America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network. Share Our Strength is one of the nation's leading organizations working to end childhood hunger in America. America's Second Harvest is the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the country with more than 200 food banks in its network.
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