Jewelry Television and America’s Second Harvest, a hunger relief organization, have partnered to help bring relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

From Thursday, Sept. 1, through Sunday, Sept. 4, the Knoxville, Tenn.-based television network donated five percent of its net sales to help America’s Second Harvest deliver the food and water to the disaster area. It also donated $10,000 in bottled water, and directed financial donations through their Web site for viewers to contribute to the relief efforts. These efforts raised $200,000 for America’s Second Harvest’s hurricane relief and recovery effort, according to a joint statement.

More than 237 truckloads from around the country are carrying more than 7.7 million pounds of food and grocery product to America’s Second Harvest food banks located in disaster stricken areas, the statement said. The food banks will collect the supplies and pack them into relief boxes for distribution to the more than 250 emergency shelters in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida and surrounding states where more than 500,000 evacuees have arrived over the past week.

It is estimated that the response needs in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi will take months of intense work, the statement said. The America’s Second Harvest national office is coordinating efforts to amass donations of food and water and emergency supplies to facilities in the Gulf Coast.

JCK