WASHINGTON, June 5, 2003—Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today unveiled Mrs. Bush’s National Hunger Awareness Day public service announcement that encourages Americans to volunteer in the fight against hunger and announced the availability of new tools designed to increase access to the Food Stamp Program to help raise awareness of the resources available to those in need.

Veneman made the announcement during a National Hunger Awareness Day event at the Downtown Services Center in the First Congregational Church. National Hunger Awareness Day is a public information initiative started in 2002, by America’s Second Harvest to highlight the continued existence of hunger in America. The Bush Administration has joined with America’s Second Harvest and other faith and community-based organizations to show what Americans can do to combat hunger in their communities.

Mayor Bill LaFortune, President of McDonald's Tulsa Co-op of Restaurant Owners Dwayne Sampson, and Ronald McDonald himself kicked off "Mayor's Citizen Corps Month" at a special press conference held June 3 at a local McDonald's restaurant.

"We're here to kick off a brand new program to help Tulsa be prepared in case something bad happens," said Ronald McDonald, who got the event going.

"As business owners, parents, and residents of Tulsa County, your local McDonald's restaurant owners are excited to be able to provide our customers with the tools they need to 'get a plan, get a kit, and get involved,' to prepare themselves and their families for disaster emergencies," said Sampson. "We look forward to a long-term partnership to support these organizations' mission to educate our citizens--our customers."

Mr. Sampson outlined the four Mayor's Citizen Corps Month initiatives designed to bring family preparedness information to McDonald's customers and the community:

1. Family Preparedness displays have been set up at 32 McDonald's restaurants in Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Bixby, Catoosa, Glenpool, Jenks, Owasso, and Sand Springs. These displays will remain in the restaurants throughout the month of June. They include information on floods, tornadoes, SafeRooms, disaster preparedness, and Citizen Corps. The displays are tailored to the individual neighborhood for each restaurant location with special Neighborhood Safety Assessment maps created at INCOG.
2. Citizen Corps tray liners featuring the message "Get a plan! Get a kit! Get involved!" are being used in McDonald's restaurants throughout the northeast Oklahoma demographic area, which includes 64 restaurants.
3. A special family preparedness brochure that also includes the "Get a plan!…" theme will be placed in the same 64 restaurants.
4. McDonald's has also joined Tulsa Partners in sponsoring the Flag Day Pancake Breakfast, Tulsa Partners' first fundraising project. McDonald's generosity includes a $600 cash donation, condiments and paper products, and 500 backpacks, plus items such as coloring books and crayons, to give away to children at the event. Ronald McDonald, Grimace, and Hamburglar will be at the breakfast; and Ronald will present his "Family Safety Show" to young audiences. To date, McDonald's has invested $10,800 in supporting Tulsa Partners, Sampson said.

"This is a groundbreaking event," said Mayor LaFortune. "Our hope is that this partnership will become a national model. Mayor's Citizen Corps has put Tulsa on the cutting edge of homeland security. When an act of terrorism or a natural disaster occurs, the citizens, the businesses, and the neighborhoods are there in the trenches; they are the first first responders. With free training offered by Mayor's Citizen Corps, citizens are prepared to save lives in the critical moments following a disaster, and the bottom line is saving lives."

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