CMT One Country is thrilled to participate in the 2009 CMT Music Awards by honoring the artists with a donation on their behalf to the Second Harvest Foodbank of Middle Tennessee," says Lucia Folk, director of public affairs, CMT. "Taking something that is normally an extravagant gift and turning it into one that makes a direct impact to people in need is what CMT One Country is about, especially in these tight economic times."

"CMT has been a great supporter of Feeding America for the past several years," said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America. "We deeply appreciate this latest and very thoughtful donation to us. Schools are out for the summer now, meaning that millions of kids no longer get free or reduced price lunches during the day, so we need lots of help getting enough food to help all these children at risk of hunger."

"One in five children in Tennessee are at risk of hunger," said Jaynee Day, President and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. "CMT One Country's continued support of Second Harvest Food Bank and Feeding America makes a tremendous impact in the lives of hungry men, women and children in our community and across America. This donation will help feed at-risk children through our BackPack program as we continue to address childhood hunger in our community."

The mission of the BackPack program is to meet the needs of chronically hungry children by providing them with nutritious and easy-to-prepare food to take home on weekends and school vacations when other resources are not available. Second Harvest BackPack programs are located at schools and after-school programs that have a high incidence of children in need. Each BackPack site distributes a pack of food to each participating child on Fridays. Each BackPack includes small pop top entrees, such as beans and franks and chili, cereal, applesauce, a fruit cup, 100 percent fruit juice, shelf stable chocolate milk and snacks, such as peanut butter crackers.