For the 2007 Lunchbox Auction, 100+ iconic celebrities from the entertainment, fashion, art, music, literary and culinary worlds remind us that food matters by creating personalized lunchbox art for online auction. The auction will benefit two hunger-relief organizations — Food Bank For New York City and The Lunchbox Fund of South Africa. Each lunchbox is signed and numbered and no two lunchboxes are alike.

Food Bank For New York City is the major supplier of food for approximately 1.3 million New Yorkers through their network of more than 1,000 food assistance programs throughout the five boroughs. Those most in need include women and children, the elderly, people with disabilities and the working poor. For every $1 donation, 97 cents goes toward food acquisition, distribution and programs. In addition to food, the Food Bank offers education and technical support to our network of programs and serves as a research and public policy resource center for legislators, the media and the public. In July 2007, FoodChange, Inc. became a subsidiary of the Food Bank. For more information, go to www.foodbanknyc.org.

The Lunchbox Fund is a non-profit organization that provides lunch to schoolchildren in South Africa. Often, it is their only meal of the day. Many of these children are AIDS orphans running child-headed households, who have to make a choice to either eat or go to school — the $15 a year education fee is barely attainable. Through The Lunchbox Fund, these children are provided with the food they need to sustain themselves. You cannot teach a hungry child. It takes just twenty-five cents to fill a child's lunchbox for a day. For more information, visit www.thelunchboxfund.org.