Oprah Chooses Share Our Strength(R)

National Organization Ending Childhood Hunger in America is Beneficiary of O, the Oprah Magazine's "Live Your Best Life" Walk Sunday, May 9 in New York City

Food Network's Aaron McCargo, Jr. and Chef Mindy Segal Lead TEAM NO KID HUNGRY

WASHINGTON, May 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SHARE OUR STRENGTH®, the leading organization ending childhood hunger in America, has been chosen as one of 10 charities to benefit from O, The Oprah Magazine's "Live Your Best Life" Walk in New York City on May 9, 2010.  The walk takes place on the final day of a weekend-long celebration of the magazine's 10th anniversary. The event will include up to 30,000 participants who will be walking with Oprah and special celebrity guests to raise money for the 10 charities.

Share Our Strength's TEAM NO KID HUNGRY will be led by Chef Aaron McCargo, Jr., of Food Network's "Big Daddy's House;" James Beard Award nominated Chef Mindy Segal of HotChocolate Restaurant and Dessert Bar in Chicago; and Share Our Strength's Managing Director Patricia Nicklin. All funds raised by TEAM NO KID HUNGRY will go directly to Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry(TM) campaign, a national effort to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. The top 10 fundraisers will walk alongside Oprah and a final celebration at the finish line for walk participants will close out the event.

The walk starts at 8:30 AM on Mother's Day at 46th Street and West Side Highway, heads uptown to 57th Street and ends in Times Square at 49th Street and Broadway.  

"Our priority is to end childhood hunger in America by 2015, and the Oprah walk on Mother's Day will push us even closer to reaching our goal.  We are thrilled to have been chosen by Oprah as a beneficiary of this walk and we hope that all the charities involved will benefit from this exciting event," says Share Our Strength Managing Director, Pat Nicklin.

Share Our Strength spokespeople Chef Aaron McCargo, Jr. of Food Network's "Big Daddy's House" and Chef/Owner Mindy Segal of HotChocolate Restaurant and Dessert Bar will be at the Share Our Strength tent in Times Square signing autographs.  Walkers are encouraged to stop by the Share Our Strength tent for an exclusive sample of Aaron McCargo, Jr.'s debut spice collection, which is not yet available in stores. Walkers who stop by the tent will also receive Mindy Segal's famous handmade cookies flown in from her award-winning restaurant in Chicago.  

Both Chef McCargo and Chef Segal are supporters of Share Our Strength's mission of ending childhood hunger in America.  Aaron McCargo, Jr. is the 2009 Spokesperson for Share Our Strength's Great American Dine Out® and Mindy Segal serves on the Culinary Council of Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation®.

The walk is open to all who are interested in making a difference by helping to raise the critical funds needed to end childhood hunger in America and there is still time to register. To join Share Our Strength's TEAM NO KID HUNGRY or to learn more about the "Live Your Best Life" Walk, please visit http://strength.org/omag/.  Registration fee is $30 plus a service fee. Each participant will receive a LYBL Walk T-Shirt. Top Share Our Strength fundraisers will enjoy special rewards such as a tour of the Food Network, or the chance to walk with Chef McCargo or Chef Segal.

Special guests scheduled to appear include: singer, actress and comedian, Bette Midler; singer/songwriter Mary J. Blige; singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman; country musician Emmylou Harris; singer/songwriter Neko Case; Twilight actress Rachelle Lefevre; House actress Lisa Edelstein; cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Oz; actor Sam Waterston; and singer/songwriter Caitlin Crosby.

ABOUT SHARE OUR STRENGTH®

Share Our Strength®, a national nonprofit, is ending childhood hunger in America by connecting children with the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives.  Through its No Kid Hungry(TM) campaign -- a national effort to end childhood hunger in America by 2015 -- Share Our Strength ensures children in need are enrolled in effective federal nutrition programs, invests in community organizations fighting hunger, teaches families how to cook healthy meals on a budget, and builds public-private partnerships to end hunger, both nationally and at the state level. Working closely with the culinary industry and relying on the strength of its volunteers, Share Our Strength hosts innovative culinary fundraising events and develops pioneering cause marketing campaigns that support No Kid Hungry. Visit Strength.org to get involved in the No Kid Hungry campaign.

ABOUT O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE

O, The Oprah Magazine (www.oprah.com) encourages confident, intelligent women to reach for their dreams, express their individual style and make choices, guided by the values of one of the most charismatic women in the world, O Editorial Director Oprah Winfrey. With an emphasis on personal growth, the magazine inspires, addressing every aspect of a woman's life -- the material, the intellectual and the emotional -- and deeply connects with nearly 15 million readers every month (MRI, Fall 2009). O, The Oprah Magazine, which also publishes a South African edition, is a co-venture between Hearst Magazines, a unit of The Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com), and Harpo Print, LLC. Hearst Magazines is one of the world's largest publishers of monthly magazines, with nearly 200 editions around the world, including 15 U.S. titles and 20 magazines in the United Kingdom, published through its wholly owned subsidiary, The National Magazine Company Limited. Hearst reaches more adults than any other publisher of monthly magazines (73.8 million total adults, according to MRI, Fall 2009).

SOURCE Share Our Strength