Paula Deen's Still in the Game; Stitches 'n Dishes Announces New Storefront Feat. Deen's Products to Benefit The Bag Lady Foundation

Stitches 'n Dishes announced today that it has launched a storefront on its website, featuring Paula Deen products to benefit The Bag Lady Foundation which was founded by Paula Deen in May of this year to provide hope, inspiration and support to women and families during their time of need.

The Stitches 'n Dishes Store powered by Amazon features 340 home and kitchen products, 36 books and DVD's, and 85 grocery items from the Paula Deen product lines. Proceeds from the sale of products in the store will be donated to The Bag Lady Foundation, appropriately named after Deen's first catering business in addition to a matching contribution of $500.00 by Stitches 'n Dishes.

The foundation plans to raise money from a variety of financial resources, including a percentage of the net proceeds from Paula Deen Foods. It also will accept public and private donations. To date, the foundation has received financial commitments from Meyer Inc. and the FOX Network show "Master Chef," according to news reports.

"We're giving Paula Deen fans an opportunity to support her and her organization through their purchases, in light of the recent controversy surrounding her brand. If they can't purchase the products at retailers, they can purchase them here, and we'll give the proceeds to Ms. Deen's organization," said Christopher Ford, co-founder at Stitches 'n Dishes. "Fans are purchasing products to show their support, so purchasing them at Stitches 'n Dishes to benefit the Foundation makes those purchases even more meaningful."

The storefront was launched in parallel with the "Butter Wrappers for Paula" campaign created on Facebook by John Schmitt, a hospitality management professional in Indianapolis, Indiana in response to several sponsors and partners severing ties with Paula Deen.

"The wrappers and product purchases will serve as tangible evidence of support for Paula," Schmitt said. "The visual impact of support backs up the effects of social media, emails and phone calls."

The storefront at the Stitches 'n Dishes website will feature Paula Deen product lines through July, 2013, and the website will donate 100% of the proceeds from sales to The Bag Lady Foundation. In addition, Stitches 'n Dishes will match one dollar for every dollar of the proceeds up to $500.

"We've set a goal for $75,000 in sales, which will raise approximately $5,000 for our donation to the Foundation," Ford said. "The store earned nearly $2,000 after launching it this weekend, so if we keep up this pace, I believe Paula Deen fans can make this donation possible."

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