KFC Honors Founder’s 128th Birthday with First Global Community Outreach Project, Acts of Colonel-ness
PLANO, Texas, September 18, 2018 /3BL Media/ – KFC celebrated its first-ever global community outreach effort this September through a new, annual giving initiative called “Acts of Colonel-ness,” in honor of what would have been founder Colonel Harland Sander’s 128th birthday. To bring the campaign to life, KFC challenged 300,000 team members in more than 130 countries around the world to commit to doing a total of 128,000 acts of kindness in their communities during the month of September.
“KFC is driven by a heart-led culture, grounded in our founder’s original values. The Colonel didn’t reach his ultimate goal until he was 65, but we think people should have the opportunity to do all they can and do it the best they can much sooner than that. This September, we’re proud to live out the spirit of our founder and give back to our communities in a meaningful way,” said Roger Eaton, CEO, KFC Global.
KFC employees around the world committed “Acts of Colonel-ness” to empower people in their local communities, including:
- KFC South Africa expanded the KFC Harvest program to all franchise restaurants. Harvest is a food donation program that donates surplus food from KFC restaurants to local community organizations. The program is now in 200 restaurants across the country and has provided over one million meals to local beneficiaries since first introduced in equity restaurants in 2015.
- KFC India threw a birthday party for more than 200 children at local schools that are supported through the KFC Add Hope program. The Add Hope program in India now feeds over 15,000 at risk children in the country.
- KFC franchise partners in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE recognized and extended thanks to their hardworking KFC delivery teams. More than 1,000 KFC delivery drivers across the three countries were gifted with “Cool-ness Kits,” a token of appreciation filled with items to help beat the heat during their deliveries.
- KFC corporate teams in the U.S. volunteered time and resources to local youth organizations, Mi Escuelita and Blessings in a Backpack. In Louisville, Ky., employees packed bags of groceries to help provide hunger-free weekends for hundreds of local students, while in Dallas, Texas, teams repaired school grounds at one of the Mi Escuelita preschools.
Local community outreach that provides opportunity to others is a long held value of KFC and its employees and franchise partners. Since launching in 1999, the KFC global Harvest program has donated over 78 million pounds of food worldwide. In 2017 alone, KFC team members and franchise partners donated three million meals through Harvest to 1,700 different charities and raised over $14 million to support local youth causes, benefiting six KFC Foundations and over 35 other charities and community partners.
To learn more about the global citizenship and sustainability efforts of KFC and Yum! Brands, visit citizenship.yum.com.
About KFC
KFC, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM.), is a global chicken restaurant brand with a rich, decades-long history of success and innovation. It all started with one cook, Colonel Harland Sanders, who created a finger lickin’ good recipe more than 75 years ago, a list of secret herbs and spices scratched out on the back of the door to his kitchen. Today we still follow his formula for success, with real cooks breading and freshly preparing our delicious chicken by hand in more than 21,000 restaurants in 130+ countries and territories around the world.
*For all media inquiries, please contact KFC Global:
Tori Carter, 972-338-7045, Tori.Carter@yum.com
