Sodexo Foundation announces open application period for 2013 Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sodexo Foundation today opens the application period for its national Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarship program and will accept applications until the December 5, 2012 closing deadline.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121005/NE87771 )

Up to five students (kindergarten to graduate) will be selected as national winners, with each receiving a $5,000 scholarship and a matching $5,000 grant for their anti-hunger charity of choice. In addition scholarship recipients and two family members will be flown to Washington, DC in June – complete with accommodations and per diem – where they will be formally recognized. Sodexo Foundation will also recognize 20 regional honorees with a $1,000 donation for their preferred hunger charity.

"The thought of a hunger-free childhood in America is something many assume is a given," said Robert A. Stern, chair, Sodexo Foundation. "Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarship recipients know better. These young people are actively working to raise awareness, funds, food and whatever it takes to see that more than 16 million food-insecure kids in the U.S. have access to nutritious meals."

The Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships recognize students, who are driving awareness and mobilizing youth to be catalysts for innovative solutions to eliminate hunger in America. First introduced in 2007, the scholarships support the education of young people who are working to end hunger in communities across the country - and draw attention to the innovative and effective solutions that they are implementing toward ending hunger in their lifetime.

To date, Sodexo Foundation has recognized 90 STOP Hunger Regional Honorees with grants totaling $90,000 for their hunger-relief charities. In addition, it has awarded 30 national scholarship recipients with $260,000 in scholarships and matching grants for the hunger-relief charities of their choice. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in an accredited education institution (kindergarten through graduate school) in the United States and be able to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to hunger-relief activities in their community.

The deadline for 2013 applications is December 5, 2012. The 2013 Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarship recipients will be announced on June 6, 2013 at the annual Sodexo Foundation Dinner in Washington, D.C. For a complete description of the program and to apply, please visit the "Scholarships" page at www.SodexoFoundation.org. 

Previous winners of the Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships have included:

2012 Scholar, Alexander Epstein (college junior) converted acres or vacant lots into lush urban gardens with produce benefiting community residents.

2012 Scholar, Peyton Medick (eighth grade) collected nearly 70 tons of food for local pantries in 11 Wisconsin counties.

2010 Scholar, Joshua Williams (fourth grade) distributed more than a quarter million pounds of food to needy families in the Miami area.

2009 Scholar, Daniel Feldman (high school senior) organized bake sales and raised in excess of $50,000 for local area food banks.

2008 Scholar Hannah Yoxall (third grade) used her personal experience with hunger to raise more than 1,500 pounds of food for local food banks.

Sodexo Foundation works to ensure that every child in the United States, especially those most at risk, grows up with dependable access to enough nutritious food to fuel  a healthy, productive life. To make a contribution to the fight against hunger or for more information, please visit www.SodexoFoundation.org.

ABOUT SODEXO'S FIGHT AGAINST HUNGER

Sodexo Inc. and Sodexo Foundation work to help end hunger in the United States. Sodexo Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit with the mission to end childhood hunger. The foundation works to ensure that every child in the United States, especially those most at-risk, grows up with dependable access to enough nutritious food to enable them to lead a healthy, productive life. Sodexo Foundation cultivates and maintains strategic partnerships with regional and national hunger relief entities and youth mobilization organizations—all part of Sodexo's STOP Hunger Initiative, its global program to end hunger and malnutrition in the communities where it operates. Sodexo is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md. and funds all administrative costs for Sodexo Foundation, which since 1999 has made more than $17 million in grants to end childhood hunger. Visit www.SodexoFoundation.org for more information.

SOURCE Sodexo Inc.