Turkey Eating Contest Raises Money for NYC's Hungry

NEW YORK (AP) -- It was a Thanksgiving meal for 10, but Tim Janus devoured it alone in just 15 minutes as part of a public relations stunt Wednesday to draw attention to New York City's hungry.

"What's so important about today is that it begins to fill my stomach up and I can now leave a little more for everybody else,'' Janus said after consuming a 10-pound turkey, four pounds of mashed potatoes, three pounds of cranberry sauce and 2 1/2 pounds of green beans at a Manhattan deli.

And he still had room for dessert: an entire pumpkin pie.

Janus -- a Major League Eater champion who holds world titles in cannolis, marshmallow Peeps and tiramisu -- said the league was donating $6,000 to the Food Bank for New York City.

That money immediately received two matching grants, for a total of $18,000 that will provide for 90,000 meals, said Food Bank spokeswoman Carol Schneider.

"There is a terrible food shortage'' at the nation's charitable food pantries, she said.

Federal funding and private donations for emergency food programs are down. Other factors contributing to the shortage and an increase in demand are the rising costs of food, housing, utilities, health care and gasoline.

Although Janus' stunt could be seen as inconsiderate, Schneider said the food bank "would rather sacrifice one turkey for 10 people because we are going to get meals for 90,000.''

The league, which donated the food for Wednesday stunt, also gave $4,000 last week to the Second Harvest food bank.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, meanwhile, announced Wednesday that the state was providing an additional $5 million to help food pantries and soup kitchens restock their supplies during the holiday season.

According to the Food Bank for New York City Web site, 1.3 million New Yorkers currently turn to food pantries and soup kitchens to keep from going hungry, a 24 percent rise from 2004.

MLE chairman George Shea said the league's $10,000 in donations would kick off a $100,000 national food charities drive.

He conceded that Janus' feat probably was just shy of the 66 hot dogs swallowed in 12 minutes at this year's world hot dog eating championship at Coney Island.

"This would be under 12 pounds of food,'' he said. "Sixty-six hot dogs would be more. So this was close.''

(TM & © 2007 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO & EYE Logo TM & © 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors. )