Star-Studded Thanksgiving Television Special To Benefit City Harvest And No Kid Hungry

NEW YORK, Nov. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrity Chef Geoffrey Zakarian announced today that he will produce and host a one-hour Thanksgiving television special this coming Wednesday, November 25, 2020, to raise money for City Harvest and No Kid Hungry. THE GREAT AMERICAN FOODATHON PRESENTED BY CITI will feature the biggest names in culinary, film, television, comedy, sports and music, including performances by John Legend, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, JoJo, and Dennis Quaid. The show will air commercial-free on select Fox-owned stations across the country and stream online at AmericanFoodathon.org. Presenting sponsor Citi will match donations dollar-for-dollar up to $500,000. The special is also supported by Avocado Green Mattress.

"This has been a challenging year for many Americans," said Zakarian, a City Harvest Board Member & Chair of their Food Council. "On the eve of Thanksgiving, let's raise a lot of money to help feed the many families across our country that are struggling to put a meal on the table right now for their children. There will be laughs, maybe some tears, and a lot of Thanksgiving cooking tips along the way."

The Great American Foodathon Presented by Citi will feature appearances by Blake Shelton, Drew Barrymore, Katie Couric, Bobby Flay, Whoopi Goldberg, Guy Fieri, Tyra Banks, Patti LaBelle and Kelly Ripa. The special will raise money for City Harvest and No Kid Hungry. City Harvest is New York City's private response to hunger and largest food rescue organization, helping to feed the 2.5 million New Yorkers who were struggling to put meals on their tables before the COVID-19 pandemic and the many more who need help accessing food now. No Kid Hungry is a national campaign to end childhood hunger in America. Through a combination of emergency grants, strategic assistance, advocacy and awareness, the No Kid Hungry campaign is equipping communities across the country with the resources they need to help connect the 1 in 4 kids in America facing hunger to healthy food. 

"With more New Yorkers than ever before needing help putting food on their tables amid the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis, City Harvest continues to rescue and deliver more food than ever before. We are here for the long-haul, working to ensure there's food for our neighbors over the holidays and into the winter months ahead," said Jilly Stephens, City Harvest's Chief Executive Officer.

"When schools across the country closed this spring, millions of kids lost access to the school meals they depend on. With record jobs and wages lost and many school buildings across the country still closed, this holiday season will be even tougher on families struggling to make ends meet," said Tom Nelson, president and CEO at Share Our Strength, the organization behind the No Kid Hungry campaign. "No Kid Hungry is helping to ensure kids don't fall through the cracks during this crisis and are fed, this holiday season and all year long."

Celebrity chefs such as Rachael Ray, Buddy Valastro, Curtis Stone, Michael Symon, Wolfgang Puck, Ree Drummond, Anne Burrell, Katie Lee, Rocco DiSpirito, Alex Guarnaschelli, Marcus Samuelsson, Judy Joo, Donatella Arpaia and Andrew Zimmern will share their favorite Thanksgiving recipes and cooking tips while actors, entertainers and personalities Rosie Perez, Olivia Newton-John, Justin Long, Matt Bomer, Dr. Oz, Denis Leary, Christie Brinkley, Henry Winkler, Lisa Rinna and Rosanna Scotto share heartfelt reflections on the holiday and the fight against hunger.

Anna Faris, Bellamy Young, Bill Bellamy, Brett Eldredge, Bridget Moynahan, Brie Bella, Daniel Bryan, Bryce Dallas Howard, Camilla Alves McConaughey, Hasselhoff, Daphne Oz, Jillian Michaels, Jo Koy, Jonathan Bennett, Kal Penn, Leah Michele, Isaac Boots, Loni Love, Loren Allred, Marlee Matlin, Nick & Joanna Swisher, Nikki Bella & Artem Chigvintsev, Padma Lakshmi, Pia Toscano, Rashad Jennings, Skyler Diggins Smith, Steve Schirripa, Vanessa Lachey, Yvette Nicole Brown and Zac Posen are also featured in the special…plus other surprise guests!

"While many of us look forward to Thanksgiving meals tomorrow, one in four children in America may face hunger this year due to the pandemic," said David Chubak, Head of U.S. Retail Banking, Citi.  "We are proud to support City Harvest and No Kid Hungry and match up to $500,000 of donations from the food-a-thon because together we can help fight for an end to this hunger crisis."

Mark Abrials, a co-founder of Avocado Mattress and their Chief Marketing Officer, said "In a time when nothing seems certain, the work City Harvest is doing to ensure all New Yorkers have access to food is more important than ever. We're incredibly proud to support their efforts to end hunger while reducing food waste through The Great American Foodathon."

"We have a lot of fun, exciting and touching moments planned for this special, said Jaret Keller, the show's Creator and Executive Producer. "I'm just so thankful to all the chefs, performers and celebrities for joining with us to help make a difference."

The special will air on select Fox-owned stations across the country. "In the spirit of the holidays, we are thankful for the opportunity to rekindle our partnership with these great organizations to provide a platform to fight hunger. We hope that by expanding the program's reach across ten more cities, we can far exceed the success of the initial Foodathon in April," said Dan Carlin, VP of Programming, Research, Creative Services & Public Affairs at WNYW/WWOR. 

Viewers will be invited to join the cause to help feed hungry children and families around the country by making any monetary donation at AmericanFoodathon.org, calling 888-985-9116 or texting 'DONATE' to '877-877' (data and message rates may apply).

The Great American Foodathon will air on the following Fox-owned stations across the country: New York on WNYW at 7PM ET; Los Angeles on KCOP at 4PM PT; Chicago on WPWR at 6PM CT; Philadelphia on WTXF at 11:30PM ET; Dallas on KDFI at 4PM CT; San Francisco on KTVU at 7PM PT; Atlanta on WAGA at 7PM ET; Phoenix on KUTP at 5:30PM MT; Orlando on WOFL at 1PM ET; Austin on KTBC at 6PM CST; Gainesville on WOGX at 3PM ET.

The Great American Foodathon is executive produced by Geoffrey Zakarian, Jaret Keller, Margaret Zakarian and Tara Halper for Corner Table Entertainment, and Eric Conte and Dan Weinreich for Content.23 Media.

About City Harvest:

City Harvest is New York's first and largest food rescue organization, helping to feed millions of New Yorkers who struggle to put meals on their tables. This year, we will rescue 118 million pounds of fresh, nutritious food and deliver it—free of charge—to more than 400 food pantries, soup kitchens, community partners and our own Mobile Markets across the five boroughs. We work alongside our community partners to boost community capacity, expand nutrition education, and strengthen local food systems. For more than 35 years, City Harvest has always been there to feed our city—one day, one meal, one New Yorker at a time. To learn more, please visit cityharvest.org.

About No Kid Hungry:

No child should go hungry in America. But in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, 1 in 4 kids could face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty. Join us at NoKidHungry.org. 

About Citi:

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi.

About FOX Television Stations:

FOX Television Stations owns and operates 29 full power broadcast television stations in the U.S. These include stations located in nine of the top ten largest designated market areas (DMAs), and duopolies in 11 DMAs, including the three largest DMAs (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). Of these stations, 17 are affiliated with the FOX Network. In addition to distributing sports, entertainment and syndicated content, our television stations collectively produce nearly 1,000 hours of local news every week. These stations leverage viewer, distributor and advertiser demand for the FOX Network's national content.  

Contact:
Tara Halper, Key Group Worldwide
[email protected], 917.628.5326

SOURCE City Harvest