YUM! Brands Inaugural
YUM! Brands Inaugural
Effort will help United Nations World Food Programme save 400,000 lives and has become the world's largest volunteer movement for hunger engaging 1 million employees, franchisees, their families and customers across nearly 35,000 KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell restaurants in 100+ countries.LOUISVILLE, KY., December 20, 2007 - Yum! Brands, Inc.'s (NYSE: YUM) inaugural "World Hunger Relief Week" (October 14-20, 2007), which focused on raising global awareness of hunger issues, volunteerism and donations to benefit the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), has now become the world's largest public-private effort ever to combat hunger.
Nearly one million Yum! employees, franchisees and their families volunteered approximately four million volunteer hours to aid hunger relief efforts in communities worldwide, while helping to raise some US$15 million throughout the World Hunger Relief Week initiative.
"From every corner of the world, our employees, franchisees, their families and customers have started a movement that will truly impact the ongoing fight against hunger and make a difference in the lives of so many in need," said David Novak, Yum's chairman and chief executive officer. "I'm incredibly proud of the overwhelming global response to World Hunger Relief Week which transformed into the world's largest volunteer effort to fight world hunger. Through our efforts we are feeding and saving the lives of more than 400,000 children, moving them from hunger to hope," added Novak.
Officials from WFP, the world's frontline agency in the fight against hunger, are determining specifics on how and where their funds will be used, but have already earmarked one million dollars to provide emergency hunger relief in Somalia -- making Yum! Brands the largest corporate-generated donation ever provided to that operation. The funds from World Hunger Relief Week, which were raised at grassroots events, in restaurants, online and by employees, will be unrestricted so that they impact those in greatest need. For example, WFP estimates a million dollars can provide enough food in Colombia to avoid a break in food distribution for six months, or ensure that more than 10 million meals are provided to school children around the world.
"This initiative has set the standard for outreach to raise public awareness about hunger," said Josette Sheeran, WFP executive director. "It comes as we face a 'perfect storm' of challenges around the world, where climate change is combining with a boom in commodity prices, slipping levels of food aid, and the scourge of HIV/AIDS are increasing the vulnerability of growing numbers of people. Yum! Brands efforts will allow us to help save lives - the fundamental goal we all share."
Yum!'s inaugural World Hunger Relief Week leveraged the power of its global system of approximately 35,000 restaurants. The company generated $50 million worth of awareness of the hunger problem and solution through public relations, advertising, public service announcements, in-store posters, online activities and word-of-mouth outreach, including: A new Web site, www.fromhungertohope.com, has generated more than 10 million visitors from 183 countries, or 95 percent of all countries on earth; Ads, public service announcements and in-store materials raising awareness about global hunger were created in nine languages and utilized across myriad media worldwide; Nearly one million employees, franchisees and family members volunteered during the week to help raise funds for WFP and/or support local hunger relief efforts in their communities, by donating an estimated four million volunteer hours to the cause. Yum! Brands supports hunger relief efforts year round, and funds are expected to continue to be raised online and in various locations globally through the end of 2007 before first year efforts are officially tallied, with plans for forthcoming efforts underway.
About World Food Programme
Established in 1963, WFP is the United Nations frontline agency in the fight against global hunger. WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: on average, each year, the agency gives food to 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 58 million hungry children, in 80 of the world's poorest countries
- Reference: KFC/1024
- Filed under: Restaurants
- Date: 20-12-2007
