Five Student Teams Win $5,000 in Technology Grants for Participation in Lead2Feed World Hunger Leadership Program

MCLEAN, Va., March 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Five teachers at middle and high schools from around the country were selected as recipients of the Lead2Feed Leadership Awards and will be awarded $5,000 in technology products for their classrooms. These teachers and their classrooms are participants in Lead2Feed, the nation's leading and fastest growing service learning program that challenges students to solve local hunger issues while building skills like leadership and teamwork. Free of cost, Lead2Feed is aligned to standards and 21st century skills. Lead2Feed was developed by the USA TODAY Charitable Foundation, with support from the Lift a Life Foundation, and the Yum! Brands Foundation.

Winners were randomly selected from classrooms that entered their Lead2Feed World Hunger Leadership Challenge projects by March 20, 2015.

The winning schools include:

• Bagdad High School, Bagdad, Arizona: Educator Shaun Rose led team "Sultan Chefs" from the school's Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) who planned, purchased, prepared and served food for 250 at the Center for Compassion and Justice.
• Brawley Union High School, Brawley, California: Brawley's local Future Health Professionals chapter (HOSA) completed several projects led by teacher Ines Estrada-Lovio: "The Van-Go's" team held fundraisers to raise money for WhyHunger, including one on CrowdRise. Team "Give a Little, Love a Little" collected cans for a free food day at The House of Bread Ministries.
• Brentsville District High School, Nokesville, Virginia: Educator Taryn Witt led team "Life Changers" from the school's Future Business Leaders of America chapter (FBLA) who collected over 165 cans of food for local food pantry, SERVE, during the Thanksgiving holiday.
• Doss High School, Louisville, Kentucky: Principal Ken Moeller led team "Deliverances from Hunger" who worked to feed over 400 people in one day at the Franciscan Kitchen.
• Milam Youth Activity Center, Ft. Bliss, Texas: Educator Lori Reza led team "MYAC Kids" from the local Boys & Girls Club chapter on the base who went door to door collecting canned goods for their charity El Pasoans Fighting Hunger.

This is the second leadership awards drawing conducted on behalf of Lead2Feed this year. The technology grants are underwritten by the Yum! Brands Foundation and will be used to obtain tablets and computers to help educators and students make meaningful change in their communities.

The Lead2Feed curriculum incorporates leadership principles from Yum! Brands' Executive Chairman David Novak's book, TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU: The Only Way to Make BIG Things Happen. Students get hands-on experience with Novak's idea that the only way to make big things happen is to have other people on your side.

Nearly half a million middle and high school students at more than 2,500 schools and clubs in all 50 states have participated in the Lead2Feed World Hunger Leadership Challenge. All schools that submit Lead2Feed hunger relief projects by April 17, 2015 are eligible to win over $250,000 in prize money for their charitable partners and $100,000 in technology products.

"Lead2Feed provides educators with a turnkey service-learning experience for students that teaches collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity," said Diane Barrett, president of the USA TODAY Charitable Foundation. "We are thrilled to award these participating schools with $5,000 in technology products to enrich the classroom experience and encourage their involvement in fighting hunger across the country."

For program updates and information, follow Lead2Feed:

Web: http://www.lead2feed.org

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Complete rules and details on the Leadership Awards are available at: http://lead2feed.com/the-challenge/project-submission-rules/

About Lift a Life Foundation
The Lift a Life Foundation was established in 1999 by David and Wendy Novak. The mission of the Lift a Life Foundation is to lead the way with innovative programs that help people in need and develop future leaders.  The Foundation focuses on creative partnerships that make a lasting impact in the primary areas of hunger relief, early childhood education, juvenile diabetes, military family support and leadership development.  Since Lift a Life Foundation began, it has helped thousands of people in need through grants and programming support.  David Novak is Executive Chairman of Yum! Brands, one of the world's largest restaurant companies with over 41,000 KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants in more than 125 countries and territories, and author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling book, TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU: The Only Way to Make BIG Things Happen. He has been recognized as "2012 CEO of the Year" by Chief Executive magazine, one of the world's "30 Best CEOs" by Barron's, one of the "Top People in Business" by FORTUNE and one of the "100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World" by Harvard Business Review. In the spring, he will receive the prestigious 2015 Horatio Alger Award for his commitment to philanthropy and higher education and become a lifetime member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. He is the recipient of the 2012 UN World Food Program Leadership Award for Yum! Brands World Hunger Relief effort that raises awareness, volunteerism and funds to address this global problem. He also received the national 2008 Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. He is on the board of directors of the Yum! Brands Foundation and World Food Program USA. Wendy Novak is a lifelong philanthropist and volunteer. She served on the board of Directors for the Kentucky Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. 

About Yum! Brands Foundation and Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the world's largest restaurant companies with over 41,000 restaurants in more than 125 countries and territories. Yum! Brands is ranked #216 on the FORTUNE 500 List with revenues of over $13 billion and in 2014 was named among the top 100 Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility Magazine and one of the Aon Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders in North America. The Company's restaurant brands - KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell - are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories. Yum! Brands is a leader in international retail development, opening on average over five new restaurants per day outside the U.S. in 2013.

About USA TODAY Charitable Foundation
The USA TODAY Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, supports and builds alliances that enhance innovative, instructional programs and community outreach by providing the resources to promote opportunities engagement. It welcomes participation in efforts to engage, enlighten and inspire today's students and educators by opening their classrooms to the real world. The Foundation seeks funding from other foundations, private companies and organizations to help provide educational programs for elementary, secondary schools, community colleges and/or programs in specific disciplines or curriculum areas. The Foundation works with interested parties to collaborate on the creation of an educational program that meets the mission and goals for respective companies or organizations.

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SOURCE USA TODAY Charitable Foundation

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