Yum! Brands Helps Restaurant Team Members Weather Storms
When disasters strike, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and the Habit Burger Grill helps team members rebuild.
Originally published by Yum! Brands
In 2023, Yum! Brands provided $1 million in aid to over 2,000 team members and their families who experienced loss. This assistance is a product of the Yum! Foundation’s global Disaster Relief Fund, which is in addition to other monetary support that may be available from its franchisees. To date, Yum! has given millions of dollars in grants to team members of franchise- and company-owned KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger Grill restaurants who’ve experienced a natural disaster.
Yum! also supports global communities as a member of the Red Cross Disaster Responder Program, which helps residents prepare for natural disasters and quickly administer resources on the ground when weather-related events or other tragedies strike.
"We were hit by Typhoon Mawar, causing the roof of my house to cave in,” said a team member in Guam. “This grant has helped me to recover directly after the storm and repair some broken structures in my house. I would like to thank all those who [made] it possible for me not worry or stress about how I am going to recover from this storm. This makes me even more proud to be a part of my organization."
From Mozambique to Mexico, Yum! responded to 11 natural disasters last year, including Cyclone Freddy, Hurricane Otis, wildfires in Hawaii and the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria. When these events occur, Yum! and its franchisees direct their team members to apply for emergency relief online, leading to immediate response grants if approved.
"I applied for this grant because of extensive home flooding and subsequent cleanup/repair from Hurricane Ian,” one U.S. team member said. “This grant was hugely beneficial as it allowed me to make many repairs to my home when I did not have available insurance or other immediate means to assist. I have never felt more cared for by an employer in my 20-year career. From the very beginning of this unfortunate event, my company assisted, encouraged and guided me with resources that I have not had in any previous job."
Going forward, Yum! will continue to care for its people. Red Cross Societies reported responding to a natural disaster every 10 days in 2023, and this trend is expected to worsen in the coming years.
“It's an inevitable part of life that we all will be challenged by things outside our control,” said Gabriela Molina Rochac, region human resources director at Premium Restaurants of America in El Salvador. “When our team members and their families are affected by a natural disaster, for example, we can't fix everything, but they can get a little bit of financial assistance thanks to the Disaster Relief Fund. Caring for people is part of Yum!’s company values.”
