Oct. 29, 2009 (Business Wire) -- CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYSE: CBL) is teaming up with WHY (World Hunger Year) for Santa Feeds America^SM, a cause marketing campaign designed to provide meals to families in need and stock empty cupboards across the nation this holiday season. The initiative is the only nationwide canned food drive ever conducted by a shopping center developer. More than 80 CBL properties across the country will collect canned food and non-perishable items during November and December for distribution to needy families via local food banks.

Due to the strained economy, hunger-relief organizations are striving to meet greater demand for aid with fewer resources than ever before. More than 36.2 million Americans, including more than 12 million children and nearly three million seniors, are in need of food assistance, and the need is growing.

“Many families must choose between paying bills and putting food on the table. During this season of giving, we are working with local food banks to promote hunger relief to the hundreds of thousands of shoppers that visit CBL malls,” said Barb Faucette, vice president of corporate mall marketing for CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. “Through Santa Feeds America we will help ensure needy families have a holiday meal to share and food in their pantry.”

CBL malls are collaborating with WHY and local food banks to ask shoppers, including families visiting Santa, to bring the gift of a non-perishable food item for the families in their community that are in need the most. Donations will be collected at the Santa Set, and donors will receive discounts from a variety of retailers. Cherry Hill Photo, an industry leader in capturing the Santa photo experience, will provide a discount on family photo packages to all donors. All food and monetary donations will stay in the community in which they are collected.

“We are grateful to CBL Properties for encouraging their customers to help their hungry neighbors while they’re shopping for the holidays,” said Noreen Springstead, WHY’s director of marketing and fundraising. “This is a nationwide effort and a unique opportunity for holiday shoppers to support our local food bank partners in more than 80 communities across America.”

WHY, an organization supported by recording artists to fight hunger and poverty worldwide, is also working with CBL to promote its “Imagine There's No Hunger” campaign. Regional malls in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas will participate in WHY’s Hungerthon. Each location will hold a radioathon on Tues., Nov. 24 to coincide with a series of events in the New York area.