Paul Newman/Ford Motor Co. Donate Trucks and Food to America's Second Harvest Food Banks

Contact: Ross Fraser of America's Second Harvest, 312-263-2303 ext. 127; Jerree Martin of Ford Motor Company, 313-322-6904; or Kirsten McKamy or Michael Havard, 203-222-0136, both of Newman's Own

DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- America's Second Harvest-The Nation's Food Bank Network, Paul Newman and Ford Motor Company have partnered for the fifth consecutive year to provide refrigerated trucks and food to ten food banks across the U.S. The trucks will be used to deliver food to rural communities to reach people who are hungry or at risk of hunger.

A total of 60 vehicles have been donated since the partnership's founding in 2001. The donated trucks have traveled a combined total of more than 1.4 million miles and have distributed over 19 million pounds of food to rural areas in need.

A truck previously donated to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana distributed over 55,000 pounds of emergency food and relief supplies to the victims of Hurricane Katrina this past September.

According to a 2003 USDA Economic Research Service report, the poverty rate in rural areas is higher than metropolitan areas -- 14.2 percent vs. 12.1 percent. In addition, child poverty rates are higher in rural areas, 20.1 percent, than in metro areas, 17.1 percent. There are 386 counties in the U.S. that are characterized as "persistently poor" -- 340 of these are located in rural, non-metropolitan areas.

The refrigerated trucks will help deliver fresh and nutritious food to hard-to-reach communities that are often underserved. Donated produce, meat and dairy products usually cannot be delivered to remote areas unless refrigerated trucks are available for long delivery routes.

Paul Newman said of the alliance, "This has been a compelling and rewarding partnership. We are proud to partner with America's Second Harvest and Ford."

"Ford Motor Company is proud to once again partner with America's Second Harvest and Newman's Own to help improve food distribution in our communities," said Tim O'Brien, vice president, corporate affairs. "For more than 100 years we have been committed to improving the quality of life for the people who live in the communities in which we do business."

"The USDA and our own hunger studies consistently demonstrate that poverty and hunger rates are higher in rural areas than they are in America's cities. Furthering the problem, it is easier to reach hungry people in urban areas than in rural areas, where people are more widely dispersed," said Robert Forney, president and CEO of America's Second Harvest. "We are extremely grateful to Paul Newman and Ford Motor Company for this generous and much- needed contribution. These trucks will help us provide fresh and nutritious food to hundreds of Americans."

America's Second Harvest is the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States, feeding people in rural, urban and suburban communities. Paul Newman, as sole owner of Newman's Own, donates all his profits and royalties after taxes for educational and charitable purposes. Paul Newman has given over $175 million to thousands of charities since 1982.

The food banks receiving trucks today are:

-- High Plains Food Bank, Amarillo, Texas

-- Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank, Duluth, Minn.

-- Food Bank of the Southern Tier, Elmira, N.Y.

-- Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida, Ft. Myers, Fla.

-- Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas, Jonesboro, Ark.

-- Northwest Louisiana Food Bank, Shreveport, La.

-- Harvest Texarkana, Texarkana, Texas

-- Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank, Toledo, Ohio

-- America's Second Harvest of South Georgia, Valdosta, Ga.

-- Northeast Iowa Food Bank, Waterloo, Iowa

© 2005 U.S. Newswire

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