Food Network, Cooking Channel and Southern Wine & Spirits of America Host "Our Table is Yours, Thanksgiving Dinner" For Invited Guests Affected by Hurricane Sandy

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 1,000 New York City seniors and families who were impacted by Hurricane Sandy will get a brief reprieve from the effects of the storm at "Our Table is Yours," a special Thanksgiving Dinner hosted by Food Network, Cooking Channel and Southern Wine & Spirits of America.  Cipriani Wall Street® will open their doors on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 to 1,000 invited guests who will be served Thanksgiving Day style meals throughout the day. Celebrity chefs and other special guests, to be announced, will be on hand to lend their support to those affected by Hurricane Sandy in New York City. Each invited guest will also receive a prepared meal to take home, information on vital benefits and gift cards from various retailers to purchase essential items.

"Food Bank For New York City was selected because they've been on the ground bringing critical food and water to New Yorkers in need since the city started feeling the effects of Hurricane Sandy," said Lee Brian Schrager, Vice President of Corporate Communications & National Events for Southern Wine & Spirits of America, and Food Bank For New York City board member. "For those hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy, we hope to provide them with some respite and the ability to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with their loved ones in a welcoming environment."

The daylong event will support Food Bank For New York City's ongoing efforts to deliver critical food and water to those affected by Hurricane Sandy in the wake of its destruction. Since the hurricane hit, the Food Bank has continued to serve hungry families directly, as well as through its city-wide network of soup kitchens, food pantries, and other hunger relief programs. Emergency food supplies were distributed to emergency feeding programs, operational soup kitchens, food pantries, senior centers, and agencies across the five boroughs including the hardest hit areas in Far Rockaway, Coney Island, Redhook, Staten Island and Lower Manhattan. 

"Millions of families in New York City struggle to put food on the table daily, and this holiday season, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, hunger has become an even greater problem," said Margarette Purvis, President and CEO of Food Bank For New York City. "We are grateful to the Food Network & Cooking Channel, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, and all the supporters of this event for their years of support of our mission to end hunger for every New Yorker, especially now, and for providing a much deserved break to those families whose lives have been seriously impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Food Bank services will be ongoing as families continue to recover from this devastating storm."

Valuable information on how to apply for food stamp benefits (SNAP) and replace benefits that were lost in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy will be available.

Donations to support "Our Table Is Yours, Thanksgiving Dinner" and Food Bank For New York City's ongoing relief efforts can be made at http://tinyurl.com/ourtableisyoursdonations. 

"Our Table Is Yours, Thanksgiving Dinner" is made possible by the support of the following partners to date:  Altamarea Group, Badia Spices, Baldor Specialty Foods, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barilla, Carnival, Clemens Food Group, Cipriani Wall Street®, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, Domino's Pizza, Fashion Delivers/Burlington Coat Factory, FOOD & WINE, Food Network & Cooking Channel, GODIVA Chocolatier, Harvest Wholesale Flowers, iNDELIBLE, illy cafe, Kmart, London Luxury, Macy's, Manhattan Beer, Murray's Chicken, Nestle Waters, Open Table, Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, PepsiCo., S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water and Acqua Panna® Natural Spring Water, Sears, ShopRite, Smithfield, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Star Group Productions, Stop and Shop, Sysco, and Tin Mustard.

FOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY (www.foodbanknyc.org)
Food Bank For New York City recognizes 29 years as the city's major hunger-relief organization working to end food poverty throughout the five boroughs.  As the city's hub for integrated food poverty assistance, the Food Bank tackles the hunger issue on three fronts — food distribution, income support and nutrition education — all strategically guided by its research. Through its network of  community-based member programs citywide, the Food Bank helps provide 400,000 free meals a day for New Yorkers in need. The Food Bank's hands-on nutrition education program in the public schools reaches thousands of children, teens and adults. Income support services including food stamps, free tax assistance for the working poor and the Earned Income Tax Credit put millions of dollars back in the pockets of low-income New Yorkers, helping them to achieve greater dignity and independence. 94% of donations go directly toward food distribution, acquisition and programs in all five boroughs of New York City.  Learn how you can help at www.foodbanknyc.org .  For updates, follow us on: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.

CONTACT:
Zigis Switzer, [email protected], 212-784-5705
Irika Slavin, [email protected], 212-401-2420

SOURCE Food Bank For New York City