Register your project and get breakfast for you voluteers

Newman's Own continues its quarter-century of sharing and caring.

By Patricia Kime

A generation may know Paul Newman only from grocery store shelves, not his famous films, like "Cool Hand Luke." But 26 years after he founded Newman's Own -- with the help of his good friend, writer A.E. Hotchner -- the ubiquitous food company continues to grow and to give.

Newman, the sole owner of Newman's Own, donated all the profits and royalties he receives to charity -- totaling more than $250 million to date.

"Why not go to the fullest length, and the silliest length, in exploiting yourself and turn the proceeds back to the community?" the actor once said.

Now a premium food line, Newman's Own boasts more than 175 varieties of all-natural foods and beverages -- including cereal, marinades, pasta sauce, salsa, popcorn and, new this fall, frozen pizza.

This month, the company continues its mission by teaming with Ford to give stocked refrigerated trucks to food banks in seven states and by working with USA WEEKEND to inspire millions of Americans to volunteer on Make A Difference Day.

"Newman's Own is proud to sponsor these two outstanding community initiatives that have a direct impact on families and communities nationwide," says Mike Havard, vice president of marketing.

On Oct. 15, Ford and Newman's Own will hold the eighth truck giveaway for Feeding America, which manages more than 200 food banks nationwide.

Since 2001, the Ford-Newman's Own "Partnership for Hunger Relief" has provided 75 trucks for transporting food to America's hungry.

The effort allows Feeding America to get fresh, nutritious food to areas where it's needed, according to president and CEO Vicki Escarra. "It is one of our most urgent mandates," she says. "The cost of fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products often puts them out of reach of low-income Americans."

Partnership for Hunger Relief started with a handwritten letter from Newman to Bill Ford, then-president of the auto giant. Years later, all the donated trucks are still on the road.

On Oct. 25, more than 3 million Americans are expected to volunteer on Make A Difference Day, and Newman's Own will provide $10,000 awards to the organizers of 10 projects for the charity of their choice.

That kind of support over the past 15 years has helped expand the event into the nation's largest single day of volunteering, explains Marcia Bullard, the president and CEO of USA WEEKEND and founder of Make A Difference Day.

"I have met many volunteers over the years who were thrilled that Paul shared their passion for helping others. They had enormous respect and admiration for him," Bullard says.

Newman's Own certainly changed the lives of El Paso residents Maida and Henry Apodaca, who planned to take a break from volunteering after Make A Difference Day 2000. With the $10,000 award given to their chosen charity, the couple has continued to help build homes for the poor in Juárez, Mexico, just over the border.

"The Newman's Own award not only changed the lives of the families for whom we've built houses, but it changed the volunteers' lives as well," Maida Apodaca says.

As for Newman and Newman's Own, the famously private actor was humble about the achievements of the company he founded.

"How to account for this massive success? Pure luck? Transcendental meditation? Machiavellian manipulation? Aerodynamics? High colonics? We haven't the slightest idea," once wrote Newman and Hotchner on the company's website.

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Start your make a difference day right

Newman's Own will provide a breakfast of cereal for volunteers at 10 Make A Difference Day projects. To have your efforts considered for selection, register your plans in our DAYtaBANK. The newly introduced Sweet Enough whole-grain cereals come in four varieties. That means you'll do something good for your volunteers before they do something good for someone else.