Rachael Ray helps reeling Ohio town

Cooking show host bought appliances, furniture, food for soup kitchen

David M. Russell / AP file

Cooking show host Rachael Ray bought a Wilmington soup kitchen new appliances, shelves and furniture. Ray's show also promised to supply food for the kitchen for the next year.

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updated 7:20 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2009

WILMINGTON, Ohio - Television cooking star Rachael Ray is boosting the local food supply for a struggling Ohio town.

On Saturday, Ray brought a Wilmington soup kitchen new appliances, shelves and furniture. Ray's show also promised to supply food for the kitchen for the next year.

The soup kitchen is getting as many customers in a day as it did in a week a year ago.

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Wilmington is still reeling from the departure of DHL Express and other Wilmington Air Park operations, which has left a 15 percent local unemployment rate in its wake.

On Sunday, the Food Network star hosted an early Thanksgiving feast for the community. The soup kitchen improvements and the Thanksgiving meal are scheduled to be featured on "The Rachael Ray Show" on Nov. 25.