Pizza Hut, Taco Bell raise P2.1 M for food program

Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have presented to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) a cheque for more than 2 million pesos to benefit people affected by the typhoons of 2009 as well as schoolchildren in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao.
The 2.1 million pesos were raised during the 3rd Annual World Hunger Relief Campaign launched in November 2009, part of a global campaign supported by WFP and Yum! Brands (the parent company of Pizza Hut and Taco Bell) which aims to raise awareness about hunger issues and generate funds to help WFP feed hungry people all over the world.   To date more than US $20 million have been raised for WFP, making a life-saving difference for over 2.5 million people in 27 countries.
“WFP is extremely grateful for the outpouring of generosity from Pizza Hut and Taco Bell customers,” said WFP Country Director and Representative Stephen Anderson. “Our  partnership with Yum!  Brands is an excellent example of how the private sector is able to mobilize humanitarian support for people in need.”
More than 160 Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants throughout the Philippines participated in the fundraising campaign.  The restaurants gave away bookmarks, calendars, or wrist bands with every customer donation.  Taco Bell also donated 10 pesos for every World Hunger Combo purchase.
The turnover ceremony, held at a Pizza Hut store in Olivarez Plaza, Los Baòos, Laguna, was attended by Stephen Anderson; Lars Peterson, Chief Operating Officer of Pizza Hut and Taco Bell;  and singer Diether Ocampo, who gives Pizza Hut celebrity endorsement. Representatives of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Nutrition Council were also present.
Pizza Hut employees also assisted in a WFP distribution in Bay, Laguna through an ongoing supplementary feeding programme funded by Yum! Brands which provides fortified food to children between 6 – 23 months affected by Tropical Storm Ondoy.
In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng, WFP launched an emergency operation to provide food relief to severely affected populations along with logistics, telecommunication and air transport assistance. Immediate relief food was provided to over 1 million people staying in evacuation centers and in submerged houses in six regions of Luzon. In 2010, WFP focuses on early recovery support through Food-for-Work to restore livelihoods and rehabilitate community structure and agriculture as well as through supplementary feeding programme targeting vulnerable groups such as children under 2 years.
WFP Food for Education activities in Central Mindanao provide nutritious school meals to 75,000 pupils on a daily basis in 428 schools in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.