Ashdown Dinner Raises $8k for Charity, Not Politics
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2006
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brett Garner (brett@peteashdown.org)
Office: (801) 983-7383

*****PRESS RELEASE*****

Ashdown Dinner Raises $8k for Charity, Not Politics

SALT LAKE CITY, UT--Pete Ashdown's "Feed the Hungry, Not the
Politicians" dinner collected $8370 for charities in Utah and
nationwide.  Remarking on its success, Ashdown said: "Once again Utahns
have shown that they are the most charitable people in the country, and
I am just very excited about how many people opened their hearts and
pockets to help our needy families."  The event, personally financed by
Ashdown, mainly benefited four Utah charities that deal with hunger in
Utah; the charities' only involvement will be receiving the individual
contributions.

In short remarks to the crowd, Ashdown touched on today's Census Bureau
report on poverty in the United States. "In the richest country in the
world, we have one in eight Americans in poverty; we can do better than
that, both as a state and as a nation."  Playing off a presidential
slogan, Ashdown said "To truly leave no child behind, they must have the
energy to make it through the day."  Ashdown applauded President Bush
coming to Utah, and wished there would be more presidential visits to
the West.  However, Ashdown added that: "Each time the President has
come to Utah, he has banged the drums of war.  I would hope that there
would be a time when he plays the pipes of peace."

The event was attended by over capacity crowd for the Alta Club dining
room, over 160 people.  The main beneficiaries for the event were:
Utahns Against Hunger, the Utah Food Bank, the Anti-Hunger Action
Committee of the Crossroads Urban Center, and the Salt Lake Inter-Faith
Hospitality Network.  Other charities receiving funds were: the Road
Home, the National Ability Center, and others.