"What good is a plate of food if you don't have a chair to sit on while you eat it?"

When Paula Deen asked this rhetorical question she was talking about Levin Furniture's $10,000 donation to the Cleveland Furniture Bank. However, her statement also works an answer to anyone who might ask why the celebrity chef got involved in furniture design.

Deen is in Mentor to promote her new home furniture collection. She'll be meeting the public from 10 a.m. to noon today at the Levin Furniture store in Mentor.

In addition to meeting Deen, some lucky people will also get a chance to win furniture she had a hand in designing.

Deen said her furniture -- much like her cooking -- is meant to evoke the warmness of the south, specifically her home in Savannah, GA.

"When you walk into our home and see our furniture, it's our desire that it almost feels like it's putting its arms around you," she said.

Levin Furniture also commemorated Deen's visit by donating $10,000 to the Cleveland Furniture Bank, which helps provide basic home furnishings for those who need it.

Deen said the furniture bank was a wonderful cause and that she wanted to take the idea back with her to Savannah.