Aguilera Uses Powerful Voice to Help Nearly 1 Billion Hungry Worldwide
LOUISVILLE, Ky - Saturday, September 14th 2013 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS
WIRE)-- Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut and
Taco Bell, announced today the launch of its annual World Hunger Relief
effort featuring multi-Grammy Award winner and international superstar
Christina Aguilera in a new public service announcement.
According
to the United Nations, there are nearly 1 billion people around the
world who are hungry. Yum! Brands’ World Hunger Relief effort is the
world’s largest private sector hunger relief initiative, spanning more
than 130 countries and territories, over 39,000 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco
Bell restaurants and nearly 1.5 million employees. The initiative began
in 2007 in an effort to raise awareness, volunteerism and funds for the
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and other hunger relief
agencies.
The new PSA includes footage from Aguilera’s recent
field visit to Rwanda where she witnessed the effects of hunger first
hand and helped beneficiaries of WFP’s nutrition programs. Aguilera
served food to hungry children who walk miles to and from school each
day to receive a hot meal through WFP’s school meals program. She also
traveled to a refugee camp that houses more than 18,000 people living in
small man-made huts. She spent time with mothers and children at the
camp and heard about how they escaped violence in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Aguilera’s inspirational song, “Light Up the Sky,”
plays throughout the :15 and :30 versions of the PSA that will air on
television and online starting this month.
In addition to the new
public service announcement, Aguilera raises awareness for the issue
through new World Hunger Relief posters at KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell
restaurants with the quote “Together, we have the power to save lives
and move from hunger to hope,” plus advertising and online efforts,
including the campaign’s website, HungertoHope.com. She has served as
global spokesperson for Yum! Brands’ World Hunger Relief effort since
2009 where her participation has helped raise millions for WFP and other
hunger relief agencies. She also serves as an “Ambassador Against
Hunger” for WFP where she has traveled on relief trips with the
organization to Guatemala, Haiti and Rwanda.
“I’m deeply moved by
the many hungry mothers and children that I met in Rwanda,” said
Aguilera. “My goal with Yum! Brands’ World Hunger Relief is to inspire
as many people as possible to donate to the cause and move millions of
children from hunger to hope. It’s important for people to know that for
just 25 cents a day, we can feed a child in school and be part of the
solution,” said Aguilera.
“We believe that it is our privilege
and responsibility to do everything we can to make a difference in
global hunger and save lives,” said David Novak, Chairman and CEO, Yum!
Brands, Inc. “Christina is an incredible spokesperson for World Hunger
Relief, helping us raise global awareness and inspiring people to get
involved. We are also grateful for the important work that the World
Food Programme is doing every day to feed millions of hungry children
and women in developing countries. I’m especially proud of the 1.5
million Yum! associates, franchisees and their families that are
volunteering in their local communities to address the problem,” said
Novak.
“We are grateful for our long-standing partnership with
Yum! Brands and their World Hunger Relief campaign,” said Ertharin
Cousin, Executive Director of WFP. “The campaign has provided millions
of meals for the hungry poor demonstrating how, when we all take action
together, even the smallest individual donation can help change a life.”
Since
its beginning in 2007, Yum! Brands’ World Hunger Relief effort has
raised nearly $150 million for WFP and other hunger relief organizations
and is helping to provide approximately 600 million meals and save the
lives of millions of people in remote corners of the world. Nearly 1.5
million of the Company’s employees, franchisees and their families have
volunteered millions of hours to aid hunger relief efforts in
communities worldwide. In 2012, World Food Program USA honored Aguilera
and Novak at the State Department with the George McGovern Leadership
Award for their hunger relief efforts.
Hunger and malnutrition
are the number one risk to health worldwide - greater than AIDS, malaria
and tuberculosis combined. Among the key causes of hunger are natural
disasters, conflict, poverty, poor agricultural infrastructure and
exploitation of the environment.
Consumers can visit
HungertoHope.com, donate in KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants
worldwide (no purchase necessary - see calendar below for U.S. campaign
dates) or text “WHR” to 90999. Every U.S. dollar raised will go directly
towards WFP’s operations to fight hunger around the world. One U.S.
dollar provides four meals for hungry children at school.
Yum!
plans to generate the equivalent of nearly $50 million in awareness of
the hunger issue through PSAs, advertising, public relations, web-based
communications and in-restaurant posters. The Company’s employees and
franchisees will be volunteering their time around the globe at hunger
relief agencies, food banks, soup kitchens and launching fundraisers.
Yum!
is also addressing hunger across the U.S. through its Harvest program.
Since its launch over two decades ago, Harvest has become the largest
prepared-food donation program in the world. Through Harvest, Yum! has
donated nearly 160 million pounds of food, with a value of more than
$700 million, to those at risk of hunger in the U.S. The Company also
has been the primary sponsor of the Dare to Care Food Bank in Louisville
for 11 years, and has donated over $11 million to this local agency.
Campaign
Calendar: World Hunger Relief kicks off this fall campaign in the U.S.
with Pizza Hut on September 22, Taco Bell on September 26 and KFC on
September 30.
Join the movement at #letsendhunger @WldHungerRelief @yumbrands.
Yum!
Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, has over 39,000
restaurants in more than 130 countries and territories. Yum! is ranked
#201 on the Fortune 500 List with revenues of over $13 billion in 2012
and in 2013 was named among the top 100 Corporate Citizens by Corporate
Responsibility Magazine. The Company's restaurant brands - KFC, Pizza
Hut and Taco Bell - are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza and
Mexican-style food categories. Outside the United States, the Yum!
Brands system opened over five new restaurants per day, making it a
leader in international retail development.
WFP is the world’s
largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Last year, WFP
reached more than 97 million people in more than 80 countries with food
assistance. For more information, visit www.wfp.org.
Contacts
Yum! Brands, Inc.
Virginia Ferguson, 502-874-8200
Virginia.Ferguson@yum.com
Weber Shandwick
Allison Wilson, 310-854-8261
awilson@webershandwick.com
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