Celebrity Cook Paula Deen and Husband Michael Groover Bring Smithfield Foods' Helping Hungry Homes(TM) To...( LOS ANGELES Feb. 6 -- The Los An...),Health

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, which distributes millions of pounds of food to the hungry in Los Angeles County every year, today received more than 30,000 pounds of meat to help feed local families, thanks to Smithfield Foods' 10-city Helping Hungry Homes(TM) Across America tour, an initiative led by celebrity cook Paula Deen.

The tour's goal is to provide one million servings of meat to the nation's hungry families, including those in Los Angeles and surrounding communities. Nearly one in 10 people in the county are at risk of hunger, with children and seniors being disproportionately affected, according to Los Angeles Regional Foodbank statistics.

Deen and her husband Michael Groover, who regularly appears on her Food Network shows, helped employees and volunteers from the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank unload a Smithfield Foods truck carrying more than 30,000 pounds of Paula Deen's Smithfield Crunchy Glazed Spiral Sliced Hams and Gwaltney Smoked Skinless Shankless Hams. The hams will be distributed to food pantries, soup kitchens and community centers throughout Los Angeles County.

"I was shocked to learn how many working hungry there are in America and Michael and I decided that we had to do something about it," Deen said. "I feel so grateful that my partners at Smithfield Foods are helping me deliver enough food to serve one million people across the country."

"We have been able to help feed the hungry in Los Angeles County for the past 35 years thanks to generous donors such as the Deen family and Smithfield Foods," said Michael Flood, president and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank. "Smithfield's donation of more than 30,000 pounds of ham provides the essential protein that is so important and in such great demand for preparing nutritious meals for our hungry families."

The Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes tour began in Deen's hometown,
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