Cypress Announces Annual Canned Food Sculpture Contest; Event Kicks Off Drive to Win Second Harvest Corporate Challenge For 7th Straight Year.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 1998--Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:CY), today announced that the executive director of the Second Harvest Food Bank, David A. Sandretto, would be on hand as master of ceremonies and chief judge for Cypress's annual canned food sculpture contest -- an integral part of the company's plan to win the Food Banks Corporate Food Bowl Challenge for a seventh consecutive year.

True to the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley, groups of Cypress employees compete by department each year, pulling out all stops in an attempt to make each years sculptures bigger and better. Last year's winner was a 26,000-pound, 50-foot-long steam-engine train with Santa Claus in place as the engineer and dry ice in the smokestack to create the illusion of steam. The 1996 winner was an eight-foot-tall replica of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

"Cypress first took home the corporate food-bowl trophy in 1992, and we will do whatever it takes to keep it here for another year," said Cypress president and CEO, T.J. Rodgers. "Our message to other Silicon Valley corporations who are out to win the prize is 'Catch us if you can.'"

The brass food bowl trophy goes to the corporation that donates the most pounds of food per employee. Last year, Cypress donated more than 77,000 pounds of food and $87,000, which translates to an additional 34,800 pounds of food, and it aims to eclipse both those numbers in the annual competition, which ends on January 9.

"Cypress and Cypress employees have been a force and an inspiration in our program since they first began to contribute in 1990," the Food Banks Sandretto said. "Each year, Cypress seems to raise the bar just a little bit higher, making the holidays a little easier for those who might otherwise have to do without."

The rules of the Cypress sculpture contest are that the main structure must be made from canned food. Additional materials may be used only to decorate or support the structure.

Cypress sponsors other events throughout the year to raise money for the Food Bank, including a book drive, a bake sale, an ice cream/frozen yogurt social, and a pizza dinner. The company sends volunteers to the local Second Harvest warehouse for "Sort Night," where the food is sorted by category so it can be efficiently distributed to the community.

"Donations to the Food Bank go straight to the community with little administrative overhead. It is perhaps the best example in the Valley of individuals helping other individuals," Rodgers said. "The sculpture competition also provides us with a chance to get the competitive juices flowing outside the business environment, and it always turns out to be a lot of fun."

The Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties is the main provider of food, information, and supportive services to hungry children, adults, and elderly people in both counties. One of the nation's largest community food bank, it serves as a clearinghouse for donated and purchased food through partnerships with nonprofit agencies, the food industry, government, volunteers, corporations, and individuals.

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation is an international supplier of high-performance integrated circuits with worldwide headquarters in San Jose, California. The company provides a broad range of products for leading computer, networking, and telecommunication companies worldwide. Cypress's product line includes static RAM and specialty memories; programmable logic devices (PLDs); data communication products; FCT logic; and personal computer timing devices and USB microcontrollers. Its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CY. The company's worldwide website is http://www.cypress.com.