Emmy-nominated daytime host Rachael Ray is embarking on a mission close to her heart. Ray announced the launch of The Yum-o! Organization, a non profit charity that empowers kids and their families to improve their relationship with food and cooking. Yum-o!'s three areas of work include educating kids and their families about cooking, feeding hungry American kids and funding cooking scholarships. An entire show dedicated to her charity initiative will air on her syndicated daytime show, "Rachael Ray," on April 26th, 2007. Check your local listings for channel and time.


"Growing up, I had a very healthy relationship with food and cooking and, throughout my life, I've met people who were positively influenced by lessons learned in the kitchen," said Ray. "We've created Yum-o! to introduce more kids to cooking, which can have such a meaningful impact on their lives and health. Food definitely brings a smile to my face and so many great memories can be made by spending time together as a family in the kitchen," concluded Ray.

Yum-o! will educate kids and their parents about cooking, enabling them to explore the joys of food while making meals that are easy, healthy, cost effective and delicious. The first step is helping them. Yum-o! makes the process of getting in the kitchen and cooking easy by removing the intimidation factor for new cooks.


Parents and their kids can go to www.yum-o.org where they will find continuously updated information and tools to get started. On the site, families will find healthy recipes that are easy to prepare, especially on a budget. The website will be a community for the sharing of success stories and cooking tips.


About Yum-o!'s cooking work, Ray commented, "We want to get parents and kids cooking healthier breakfasts, lunches, lunchboxes and dinners and we want to make food fun, fast and affordable for American families. Our goal is to get great recipes out there and to listen to parents' and kids' concerns about health and nutrition, and what their kids are eating both at school and at home." Ray continued, "The challenge I've heard from parents is that they don't have the time or money to cook healthier. They just don't believe they can make good food fast and that is just not true."