Jun 8, 2004 12:32 PM, from staff and wire reports

The Kroger Co donated more than 26 million pounds of food in 2003 to the America’s Second Harvest domestic hunger relief organization. Valued at more than $42 million, this donation ranks as the largest in Kroger’s history.

Kroger’s retail divisions work with more than 40 regional food banks around the nation that are affiliated with Second Harvest. The Cincinnati OH-based grocery chain consistently ranks as one of the largest retail contributors of food and grocery products to the non-profit organization, which twice has named Kroger as National Retailer of the Year.

America’s Second Harvest provided emergency food assistance to more than 23 million hungry Americans in 2003, including 9 million children and more than 2 million seniors.