By April MacIntyre Mar 7, 2009, 19:31 GMT
Los Angeles-based talking heads for television have come together to pool their collective strength to aid area food banks.
Los Angeles-based talking heads for television have come together to pool their collective strength to aid area food banks. © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos
As a response to the recessionary times and the skyrocketing price of food, “Dr. Phil", “The Doctors,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “The Bonnie Hunt Show,” “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” and “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” are joining forces to collect canned goods from audience members in an effort to restock the Los Angeles Food Bank pantries, as well as nationwide agencies severely impacted by the current economic crisis.
The talk shows have asked their daily audience members to bring cans of food to every taping from now until the end of their respective seasons, which LA Food Bank will then distribute to local food banks in the greater Los Angeles area.
“The economic downturn has impacted everyone in some way, but what we have noticed is that those who used to support our food banks, now find themselves in the unexpected position of needing food to put on the table themselves,” Dr. Phil said.
“Thanks to our very generous audience members, we recently had a very successful holiday drive to collect necessities for our military. So, we are going to continue to pay it forward. Our friends at the other LA-based shows are joining us in asking folks to donate cans of food when they come to see us. When we learned that the L.A. Food Bank has had an increase in demand of 41% we knew that something needed to be done. We don’t charge anything to come see our shows, and our audience has shown us that their support is unqualified when we try to make a difference.”
Craig Ferguson, host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson added, “When I heard about this opportunity I was ecstatic, as we often encourage audience members to leave all heavy, metal objects outside the stage. However, keeping with the time-honored tradition of vulgar lounge comedians, audience members are still free to bring fresh food in to express their distaste for the comedy.”
“We’ve been asking our audiences to bring food for the Los Angeles Food Bank. It’s part of our ‘Yes We Can’ program to collect 12,000 cans of food every week from now until April. I want to thank everyone for bringing food. Because of the economic crisis, the L.A. Food Bank needs our help more than ever. So please, please help us out and help the people out that need our help,” said Ellen DeGeneres.
Bonnie Hunt, host of The Bonnie Hunt Show, added: “I am so proud that we can all join together to help those affected by the current economy which has forced many people to seek the necessary help of food banks. We thank our audiences who are joining our efforts of helping our fellow neighbors and encourage those who are able to donate to locate food banks in their area.”
"With the economic slowdown, we need more support now to meet the increased demand for food assistance," said Michael Flood, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. "In my 19 years of working at food banks, this is by far the most drastic, across the board increase in demand for food assistance that I have seen. We're extremely grateful to all of the shows participating in this food drive. The help couldn't come at a better time."
In addition, each of the talk show hosts will extend the campaign to viewers who do not live in the Los Angeles area, via their respective affiliates, public service announcements, and website links to Feeding America, where viewers can plug in their zip codes for locations of their closest agency.
The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization established in 1973 and is now one of the largest food banks in the United States. Through a network of nearly 875 charitable agency sites, the Foodbank supplies enough food for over 500,000 meals each week in Los Angeles County.
The Foodbank is affiliated with Feeding America. For more information, visit here.
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