Luverne, Ala., Feb. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Gorlovka, Ukraine has awarded its highest honor, the silver Gorlov medal, to American businesswoman and philanthropist Patricia Barnes, founder of Sister Schubert's Homemade Rolls. She was recognized for establishing Sasha's Home, a seven-apartment foster care facility that provides temporary families for nearly 40 abandoned Ukrainian children awaiting adoption.

(The picture is taken from the www.barnesfamilyfoundation.org site)

"I am honored and humbled to receive this award," Barnes said. "It is a privilege to provide a brighter future for children who would otherwise live in an institutionalized setting, never knowing the love of a family."

Since learning about the plight of Ukraine's estimated 100,000 orphans, Barnes has donated more than $1 million for the renovation and furnishing of Sasha's Home through the Barnes Family Foundation, which she and husband George Barnes established in 2000. The home, which opened in June 2008, is named for the Barnes' son Alexsey, a Ukrainian child they adopted in 2006.

To raise operating funds for Sasha's Home, the entrepreneur and author of Sister Schubert's Secret Bread Recipes is completing a second book, Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters. The coffee-table book combines recipes with the story of how Barnes, as a single mother of two, began the home-based business that became Sister Schubert's Homemade Rolls. Scheduled for publication in summer 2009, the book can be pre-ordered at www.castyourbreaduponthewaters.com.

Sister Schubert's Homemade Rolls was founded in Troy, Ala., by Patricia "Sister Schubert" Barnes in 1991. Today, it is a subsidiary of T. Marzetti Company, Lancaster Colony's specialty foods division. Sister Schubert's produces 12 varieties of rolls at three bakeries: the company headquarters in Luverne, Ala.; Saraland, Ala.; and Horse Cave, Ky. For more information, visit www.SisterSchuberts.com.

The Barnes Family Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable organization established by Patricia Barnes in 2000. Since then, the foundation has donated more than $2.3 million to charities, scholarships, historical preservation and the creation of a home for abandoned children in the Ukraine. To learn more, visit www.barnesfamilyfoundation.org.