Paula Deen hefts some hams for First Coast food bank

Florida Times-Union - “Y’all want to unload the truck?”

With that, Paula Deen, the “Queen of Southern Cuisine,” rallied Second Harvest Food Bank employees Thursday to unload 30,000 pounds of donated hams from the 18-wheeler backed up to its Jessie Street loading dock in Jacksonville.

Then the Food Network celebrity hefted hams down the line for food banks and agencies that help the needy in North Florida. It’s all part of Smithfield Foods’ Helping Hungry Homes Tour.

With need jumping from 7.5 million pounds of food shipped annually in 2008 to 17 million pounds this year, Second Harvest Executive Director Thomas Mantz said the delivery is “an incredible donation.”

“We couldn’t be more grateful. The toughest thing for us to find is protein,” Mantz said. “You are talking about 30,000 to 40,000 meals that will go into our community as a result of a contribution like this.”