Vote in Sodexo Future Chefs: Healthy Breakfast Challenge Rewards Middle School Students for Creativity and Culinary Skill

(3BL Media) Gaithersburg, MD - April 20, 2012 - Sodexo invites all people committed to improving student health and nutrition to vote today for one of the five finalists in its national Future Chefs: Healthy Breakfast Challenge, a program that encourages students to learn about good nutrition by creating healthy breakfast items.  View the finalist videos and vote today at www.youtube.com/user/SodexoFutureChefs.

Five national finalists have been selected out of 686 students who prepared and presented healthy breakfast recipes before panels of judges at local district-wide events at Sodexo-served school districts around the country.  The five national finalists were selected based on the originality, presentation, ease of preparation, kid-friendliness, and healthiness of their recipes.  More than 2,600 healthy breakfast recipes from 228 Sodexo-served schools initially entered the competition.

The five Sodexo Future Chefs: Healthy Breakfast Challenge national finalists are:

• Gina DiRenzo, age 12 – Easton Area School District in Easton, Penn.
• Makayla Hildebrand, age 12 - Hockinson School District in Brush Prairie, Wash.
• Lorenzo Laohoo, age 13 – Keller Independent School District in Keller TX
• Essence Perry, age 12 - Fitchburg Public School District in Fitchburg, Mass.
• Jordan Schmidt, age 14 – North Platte Public School District in North Platte, Neb.

These students created videos of their creative and healthy recipes which are available to view at www.youtube.com/user/SodexoFutureChefs.  Any viewer can click on the link below each video to access the voting page and help select the national champion. Voting is open from Friday, April 20 through Monday, April 30.

“Sodexo has the expertise to help students grow and succeed in both school and life by educating them about the importance of making healthy and nutritional choices,” said Steve Dunmore, president of Sodexo Education-Schools. “The Future Chefs: Healthy Breakfast Challenge is a perfect example of how we make good nutrition lessons stick by making them fun and interactive.”

Sodexo, a partner in First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, is committed to take measurable sustainable actions that ensure a brighter future in the areas of health and wellness, environmental stewardship and community development. Sodexo focuses on nutrition, achievement, environment, community and activity to promote student well-being.

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Sodexo Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com), leading Quality of Daily Life Solutions company in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, delivers On-site Service Solutions in Corporate, Education, Health Care, Government and Remote Site segments, and Motivation Solutions such as Esteem Pass. Sodexo Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation (www.SodexoFoundation.org), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $17 million in grants to end childhood hunger in America. Visit the corporate blog at www.sodexoUSA.com/blog.

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Quality of Life plays an important role in the progress of individuals and the performance of organizations. Based on this conviction, Sodexo acts as a partner for companies and institutions that place a premium on performance and employee well-being, as it has since Pierre Bellon founded the company in 1966. Sharing the same passion for service, Sodexo’s 413,000 employees in 80 countries design, manage and deliver an unrivaled array of Quality of Life Services. Sodexo has created a new form of service business that contributes to the fulfillment of its employees and the economic, social and environmental development of the communities, regions and countries in which it operates.