MANILA, Philippines - Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have collected more than P4.5M for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to support its school feeding program in Mindanao.
Last year, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell launched their fourth annual World Hunger Relief campaign in the Philippines. Over 165 restaurants in the country raised funds for WFP’s Emergency School Feeding program, which provides nutritious meals to 80,000 elementary school children in conflict-affected areas of Central Mindanao.
The P4.5M donation, which is 114 percent higher than the sum raised by the same campaign the previous year, was handed over by Pizza Hut endorser Diether Ocampo and Philippine Pizza, Inc. COO Lars Peterson to WFP country director and representative Stephen Anderson, in an event held at Pizza Hut SM Araneta Center.
“I am truly happy to be a part of the Pizza Hut family and to be able to do what I can to help its cause. WFP is supporting the process of bringing children back to school after years of displacement and I wish for their continued success intheir fight against hunger,” said Diether, who himself volunteered to be part of the World Hunger Relief campaign.
“The World Food Programme is very grateful to Pizza Hut and Taco Bell for their strong partnership and commitment, which has greatly helped WFP efforts to not only raise awareness about the issue of hunger, but in directly ensuring that, by having nutritious meals in schools, vulnerable children in the conflict-affected areas of Mindanao are able complete their basic education. This is one of the first steps in overcoming poverty and hunger,” said Anderson.
Through the 60-day fundraising campaign, which ended on Dec. 31 2010, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants in the Philippines received donations from customers in different ways. Pizza Hut customers who donated P40 received a Christmas card autographed by Diether. With every order of the Pizza Hut WFP Feast or the Taco Bell Nachos Bell Grande combo meal during the campaign period, customers contributed P10 to the cause. Many other generous customers filled the WFP canisters on store counters nationwide.
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