Oklahoma 13-Year-Old Recognized as Tyson Foods' First `Hunger All-Star'

As a Result of Jonathan Crider's Worthy Deeds More Than 35,000 Pounds of Protein Will Be Delivered to Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma


OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 20, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Two years have passed since Jonathan Crider first heard the public service announcement saying kids his age living nearby were going hungry. Now at age 13, he has rallied his hometown community of Lawton to raise more than $20,000 for Food 4 Kids to help feed more than 100 children in Lawton public schools for an entire school year.

Jonathan can also add earning a truckload of much needed protein from Tyson Foods for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma to his list of accomplishments. "Jonathan Crider is teaching all of us a lesson in serving and giving," said Ed Nicholson, director of community relations for Tyson Foods. "We're making this donation in honor of his great work in the community and his online nomination made on our company's new hunger relief website," added Nicholson. The website, hungerrelief.tyson.com, is dedicated to those who work tirelessly in the fight against hunger, especially around the holidays and after times of natural disaster, like Oklahoma has experienced during the past week. Tyson Foods plans to select monthly winners from nominations for Hunger All-Stars submitted on the website. Jonathan was nominated by the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

The donation is part of Tyson's ongoing commitment to lead and support hunger-relief initiatives. Since 2000, the company has donated $3 million and 49.1 million pounds of chicken, beef and pork products to more than 600 hunger-relief agencies nationwide.

Hunger in Oklahoma

The need for hunger relief in Oklahoma is significant. The American Dietetic Association defines hunger insecurity as "limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways."

America's Second Harvest Almanac of Hunger and Poverty in America 2006 published in June 2006, reported an estimated 13.1 percent of Oklahomans lived below the poverty level and an average of 14.6 percent of Oklahoma households were food insecure between 2003 and 2005. The figure is based on a three-year average on the years studied from 2002 to 2004.

"The new Tyson Foods hunger relief website has proven to be a great resource for learning about others committed to ending hunger as well as a new social medium for hunger relief initiatives. We are grateful for Tyson's innovative thinking in hunger relief and for the donation to our food bank," said Rodney W. Bivens, executive director of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. "Donations of poultry and other high protein foods are especially valuable as they help us provide our clients with healthy, nutritious foods."

Last year alone, Tyson and its team members held more than 60 food donation events. Protein is one of the most needed and least donated products at food banks. The company works closely with two leading organizations in the fight against hunger: America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network; and Share Our Strength.

For more information on how to get involved in the fight against hunger, go to http://hungerrelief.tyson.com, http://www.secondharvest.org/ or www.strength.org

Food Bank Facts:

* The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is the largest private hunger relief organization in the state.

* One-half million Oklahomans are at risk of hunger on a daily basis -- including one-in-five of all Oklahoma children whose capacity to learn and grow is threatened by hunger.

* For every $1 donated, the Food Bank can provide 7 meals.

* $11,440 is the average annual income for households served by the Food Bank.

* The Food Bank's Food 4 Kids program (program that Jonathan Crider raises money to support in his community) provides chronically hungry elementary school children with a backpack filled with kid-friendly food to sustain them over weekends and school holidays. Many of these children are getting very little to eat between Friday's lunch and Monday morning's breakfast at school.

* The Food Bank is currently serving more than 7,000 children in 207 schools in 34 Oklahoma counties.

* Food 4 Kids has made a huge difference in these children's lives - allowing them to focus on learning, rather than focusing on where their next meal will come from. $135 provides one backpack for one child for an entire school year.

* The Food Bank provides enough food to feed 48,000 Oklahomans each week -- and yet, it is still not enough.



            

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