PHILADELPHIA, June 27, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- MEDIA ADVISORY: EVENT NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC -- Writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan has shown in his films that he has a talent for bringing out the best in children. Now he's extending that connection to children by developing a program to bring healthier foods to youngsters participating in feeding programs sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank.
Through the M. Night Shyamalan Foundation, headquartered in Berwyn, the filmmaker negotiated an arrangement with Horizon Organics, Inc. in Denver and Neshaminy Distributors, to help provide organic milk, orange juice and yogurt to children from low-income families who attend summer camp and after-school feeding programs at Food Bank member agencies throughout southeast Pennsylvania.
The first organic food distribution will take place at the summer camp program of St. Philip's United Methodist Church in Kensington on July 2 at noon, but the goal is to bring these healthy products to all 20 of the Food Bank's "Kids Cafe" children's feeding programs in the region.
"The Food Bank is totally dependent on food donations to feed 60,000 people each week," said Sue Leary, Kids Cafe administrator. "That means we don't get to pick and choose the items we can offer our member agencies to feed their clients. But thanks to the efforts of the Shyamalan Foundation, for the first time we have been able to identify and purchase specific food items for our children's programs that are nutritious, healthy, and even have a longer than average shelf life," she said. Organic products are not typically among those donated to the Food Bank, so this program will be a unique offering for the feeding programs.
St. Philip's, at F and Tioga Sts. operates children's programs year-round. During the school year, their after school programs serve dinner to about 70 children weekly. The current full-day summer program includes 35 inner city children. In addition to recreation activities, the program emphasizes literacy and writing for children ages six through 12. Most of the children are from immigrant families where English is not spoken and thus, St. Philip's works on developing their written and oral language skills.
The Greater Philadelphia Food Bank is the largest distributor of donated food to charities that feed the needy in southeastern Pennsylvania, distributing 9.5 million pounds of food among nearly 800 programs. In its 22-year history, the Food Bank has distributed more than 150 million pounds of food.
The Greater Philadelphia Food Bank company logo is available at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=360