Lead2Feed World Hunger Leadership Program Mobilizes Nearly 600,000 Students Across America to Tackle Local Hunger

MCLEAN, Va., May 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Five student teams from middle and high schools around the country have won the third annual Lead2Feed World Hunger Leadership Challenge and will be awarded $25,000 each for their schools' nonprofit of choice engaged in hunger relief, and $20,000 in technology products for their school.  Lead2Feed is the nation's leading and fastest growing free service learning program which aims to solve world hunger by teaching leadership skills to students. Since its inception in 2012, nearly a million students in 3,500 schools and clubs participated across all 50 states donating more than 22,000 volunteer hours and one million meals to hungry families. Lead2Feed was developed by the USA Today Charitable Foundation, with support from Lift a Life Foundation and Yum! Brands Foundation.

To win the Lead2Feed World Hunger Leadership Challenge, students formed teams and created programs to end local and global hunger. This year, more than 1,000 teachers nationwide registered as Lead2Feed members. From those educators who submitted student-led projects, five teams were selected based on the innovative and impactful programs they conducted to combat hunger. 

The five grand prize recipients include:

• Grassfield High School, Chesapeake, VA: A team of students creatively collected over 1,100 pounds of food and raised hundreds of dollars to combat hunger in their community through events like Movie Night Food Drive with "Stacy Clause," and a school-wide food drive. They also started the "Little Grizzlies" backpack program to supply food to elementary students
• Doss High School, Louisville, KY: With a team of more than 50, these students created an international festival for their community, held a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, and hosted a Local Area Network party, while running a concession cart during all events. This group raised nearly $4,000 to ensure Syrian refugees had meals upon their arrival to Kentucky.
• Design and Architecture Senior High, Miami, FL: A team of ninth graders collected 1,831 pounds of food equaling more than 3,000 weekend meals to students who are hunger insecure in the Miami-Dade area. These students not only support their school, but 15 local schools depend on these ninth graders for weekend meals as well.
• Odessa High School FBLA, Odessa, WA: Seven local students raised more than $8,800 to sponsor 55 food kits over 35 weeks for students in need. Students also created a sustainable backpack initiative, made available on weekends when the majority of hunger agencies are closed, to ensure no community member is left hungry.
• The Harbour School at Baltimore, Owing Mills, MD: This group of motivated students utilized 3D printing technology and social media to drive awareness around local hunger issues across Maryland and 10 other states. The school united with a local Middle School to raise over 200 pounds of food. This is the second year The Harbour School has won the Lead2Feed grand prize.

Additionally, Lead2Feed is awarding $10,000 charitable grants based on the outstanding work of these teams:

• Johnson Traditional Middle School, Louisville, KY
• Brawley High School HOSA, Brawley, CA
• Seneca High School, Louisville, KY
• North Sanpete Middle School FBLA, Moroni, UT
• George Washington High School, Chicago, IL
• Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, Chicago, IL
• Flagami Elementary Community Helpers, Miami, FL
• Menchville High School, Newport News, VA
• Malon D. Mimms Boys and Girls Club, Canton, GA
• The Walter Damrosch School, Bronx, NY

And $5,000 charitable grants based on the outstanding work of these teams:

• Baylor School, Chattanooga, TN
• Eisenhower High School Freshmen, Lawton, OK
• McDowell Intermediate High School, Erie, PA
• Bagdad High School FCCLA, Bagdad, AZ
• South Seminole Middle School, Casselberry, FL
• St. Francis Episcopal Day School, Houston, TX
• Atlanta High School FBLA, Atlanta, LA
• Providence Preparatory Academy, Rome, GA
• Winton Woods Middle School, Cincinnati, OH
• Benson Polytechnic HOSA, Portland, OR

"Inspiration is one of the many words that come to mind when I think of the hundreds of thousands of students finding ways to combat and understand world hunger in their local communities," said David Novak, executive chairman of Yum! Brands, Inc. "Lead2Feed provides the opportunity to teach the next generation of leaders how to lead the right way—with compassion and understanding—this program is making the world a better place for generations to come."

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.

"We are very pleased to be awarding these students for the admirable work they have accomplished in their communities through the Lead2Feed Program this year," said Diane Barrett, president of the USA TODAY Charitable Foundation. "After launching the Lead2Feed program only three years ago, we are amazed to see the experiences this service-learning program has brought to students each year. Not only are they actively learning but they are learning important skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity."

For program updates and information, follow Lead2Feed:

Web: http://www.lead2feed.org

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Lead2Feed

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeadtoFeed  

Instagram: http://instagram.com/leadtofeed

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/leadtofeed/

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, has over 41,000 restaurants in more than 125 countries and territories. Yum! is ranked #216 on the Fortune 500 List with revenues of over $13 billion. In 2014 Yum! 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. Outside the United States, the Yum! Brands system opens over five new restaurants per day on average, making it a leader in international retail development.

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 Lead2Feed

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