SANTA ANA, CA and TUKWILA, WA -- (Marketwire) -- 02/11/13 -- The team at Krusteaz® was so moved by a recent letter from a loyal customer that they hosted a special surprise party for the man who wrote it, 86-year-old Harold Sorensen of Santa Ana, Calif. The Krusteaz bread Sorensen baked each week was one of the only foods his wife could eat as he nursed her through cancer treatment. Since her passing, he's continued to bake for neighborhood families, the local fire department where his son works and the church where he leads Bible classes.

"We measure our success by the impact we have on others," says Andy Heily, senior vice president of Continental Mills, Inc., the parent company of Krusteaz. "Harold's letter reassured us that we're living up to our ideals, and we believe he reflects the embodiment of our values in his community. Baking and making things for others -- enhancing their lives through the power of food -- is at the heart of the Krusteaz brand. We simply had to find a way to honor and thank him for embracing that spirit."

Sorensen is certainly no ordinary customer; he sends two loaves of bread to each of his sons every week to share with co-workers; bakes for half a dozen neighborhood families each week -- including two elderly neighbors; bakes weekly for the Sunday school classes he teaches; and makes 40 loaves of bread each August for attendees of his church's vacation Bible school. His stockpile of 24 varieties of Krusteaz muffin, quick bread, cookie, cobbler and bread mixes -- sourdough and cracked wheat are his favorites -- are catalogued and organized in three rooms of his house.

Krusteaz honored Sorensen with a surprise pancake breakfast for 150 of his friends, family and neighbors on Sunday, February 10, at the Calvary Church in Santa Ana. The company also donated $500 in his name to World Vision, an organization that helps orphans; and presented Sorensen with coupons redeemable for a year's worth of free Krusteaz products as well as a large Krusteaz Bake Kit, complete with all the equipment he needs to keep up with his baking.

For more information about the Krusteaz brand and products, the company's pancake-breakfast fundraising events or for Krusteaz recipes, visit www.krusteaz.com.

ABOUT KRUSTEAZ: Krusteaz (a clever combination of "crust" and "ease") has stood for home-baked and convenient fresh-from-the-oven goodness since 1932, when the women of a Seattle bridge club first shared their easy-to-make pie crust with customers. The company added its "just add water" pancake mix in the 1940s and now also offers biscuits, muffins, brownies, breads, desserts and more. The company manages a Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser Program that contributes nearly $175,000 in community and nonprofit support, in addition to donations to Northwest Harvest, Food Lifeline and other food banks and participation in numerous regional charities. Krusteaz is owned by Continental Mills, Inc., a privately held manufacturer of baking and beverage mixes in Tukwila, Washington. For more information, visit www.krusteaz.com.

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