Laila Ali and Uncle Ben's - Fighting Childhood Hunger

Uncle Ben's, the number one rice brand, has teamed with celebrity health and fitness expert Laila Ali to highlight a new multi-year partnership with the Kids Cafe program of America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network. Over the next four years, Uncle Ben's will donate $1 million to open additional Kids Cafe locations around the country and provide free meals and snacks to low-income children.

To kick off the partnership, Ali, daughter of the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali and a champion of healthy eating and physical activity, joined Uncle Ben's associates at the Boys & Girls Club of San Fernando Valley Kids Cafe location near Los Angeles to cook for and serve food to the 50 children who regularly use the facility.

"When I heard that nearly 12 million children in the United States are hungry or at risk of going hungry, I knew this was a cause that needed attention," said Ali. "Kids Cafe locations not only allow children a chance to get a hot meal, they also are places where they can build friendships and learn about living a healthy lifestyle. It's wonderful that Uncle Ben's has committed to opening more locations to help even more kids."

As part of the partnership, Uncle Ben's has enlisted help from the "Queen of Kids Cuisine, " Chef Barbara Beery, to create kid-friendly, nutritious recipes featuring Uncle Ben's rice. The new recipes, featuring dishes such as "Chicken Teriyaki Brown Rice Bowls" and "Brown Rice Veggie Pizza," will be served at the new Uncle Ben's-sponsored Kids Cafes.

The first Uncle Ben's Kids Cafe was opened September 2007, in Greenville, Miss., regarded as the spiritual home of Uncle Ben's. The Greenville Kids Cafe will be the Delta's first child hunger-relief facility and plans to serve an estimated 1,000 children a year.
















View the complete gallery of photos from Laila's visit to the Boys & Girls Club of San Fernando Valley - Kids Cafe.

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Laila Ali and ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History




















For a second year, the ONE campaign and EDUN have teamed up to launch the ONE.org T-shirt, to be available at Nordstrom and Nordstrom.com and at ONE.org. Laila Ali was honored to be among the celebrities involved this year, who were photographed by photographer and supermodel Helena Christensen as part of a new print campaign, wearing customized T-shirts for the shoot. The one-of-a-kind, signed T-shirts were auctioned exclusively on the EDUN Web site with one hundred percent of the proceeds from the auction going directly to ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History, which aims to help in the fight against global AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa.

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Laila Ali and the Women's Sports Foundation

Laila Ali has always been a strong advocate of promoting women's and girls' involvement in sports and athletics. In fact, she has become more involved with organizations who target young girls and women, providing them with the resources and tools to live a healthy, active life. One such organization is the Women's Sports Foundation whose mission is to advance the lives of girls and women through sport and physical activity. Laila has joined the Women's Sports Foundation in numerous charitable events raising millions of dollars to be used towards scholarships and funds allocated to programs that will continue to provide the knowledge and resources for women and girls. Most recently, Laila was involved with the organization's Salute to Women and Girls in Sport, an event that raised nearly $1.5 million and also featured an awards ceremony that honored figure-skater Michelle Kwan and the Rutgers Women's Basketball team. In recognition of her contributions, Laila was recently named to the Women's Sports Foundation's Board of Trustees.


Read more about the Annual Salute to Girls and Women in Sports.
View the complete photo gallery from this year's Annual Salute.
For more information on the Women's Sports Foundation, visit their website.