Multi-Grammy Award winner and pop superstar Christina Aguilera will be honored today at Variety’s first annual Power of Women luncheon for her philanthropic efforts to fight hunger as global spokesperson for Yum! Brands, KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell’s annual World Hunger Relief campaign (http://www.fromhungertohope.com). Variety is recognizing Aguilera, along with seven other of Hollywood’s most philanthropically impactful women in entertainment, who through her efforts, has made a significant difference to the World Hunger Relief campaign.
The goal of Variety’s Power of Women is to honor high profile women, such as Christina Aguilera, in order to inspire and empower women everywhere to get involved and give back. Christina will be honored specifically for her work with Yum! Brands’ World Hunger Relief effort. The exclusive luncheon will host four-hundred invite-only guests made up of Hollywood insiders and talent, to celebrate, support and pay tribute to Aguilera and others in the entertainment industry for utilizing their positions to further awareness and affect change for various charitable causes.
"As a mom, I can’t accept that even one child could go hungry or that a child dies every six seconds from hunger. That’s why I’m so passionate about this cause,” said Aguilera. "World Hunger Relief makes a huge difference by providing relief for millions of hungry people, especially schoolchildren in developing countries. I hope by lending my voice to this cause I can raise awareness and move millions of people and children from hunger to hope,” added Aguilera.
"We congratulate Christina for her recognition at Variety’s Power of Women for her passion to fight world hunger,” said David Novak, Chairman and CEO, Yum! Brands, Inc. "We are thankful for Christina’s partnership to help us raise attention to the critical hunger issue and save millions of lives.”Yum! Brands’ annual World Hunger Relief campaign is the world’s largest private sector hunger relief effort, spanning 110 countries, 36,000 KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food restaurants and over one million employees, to raise awareness, volunteerism and funds for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and other hunger relief agencies.
Aguilera is raising awareness of the hunger issue by appearing in the World Hunger Relief campaign’s new global public service announcement and advertisement, made possible by KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, that will start airing at the end of September. The black and white PSA captures Aguilera, accompanied by a guitarist, attracting a crowd on a busy corner in Los Angeles as she sings Beautiful to raise money for hunger relief. Graphics illustrate that everyone can do something to help, "all it takes is a dollar and you, hope is in your hands.” The new :15, :30 and :60 second PSA was created by DraftFCB in Chicago, directed by the award-winning Phil Joanou and edited by Beast in Los Angeles.
Aguilera will also appear in World Hunger Relief restaurant posters with the quote, "Together, we have the power to save lives and go from hunger to hope” and online efforts, including the campaign’s web site FromHungertoHope.com. Consumers can log on to FromHungertoHope.com or go to any KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s or A&W All-American Food restaurant to donate (no purchase necessary).
Global hunger has reached epic proportions this year – with more than 1 billion hungry people around the world – due to the convergence of the global economic slowdown; high food prices; increased competition for products that produce energy; severe droughts and floods due to climate change; and increasing demand from growing economies in Asia and South America.
World Hunger Relief kicks off its month-long campaign in the U.S. starting Sept. 24 (Long John Silver’s/A&W All-American Food), Sept. 27 (Pizza Hut), Sept. 28 (KFC) and Oct. 8 (Taco Bell). The Yum! Foundation will be covering WFP’s administrative fee so that funds collected online and at its restaurants will go directly towards feeding poor school children in the developing world and helping villages become self-sustainable. Every U.S. dollar raised will provide four meals for hungry children.
Since World Hunger Relief launched in 2007, more than 1 million of the Company’s employees, franchisees and their families have volunteered more than 9 million hours to aid hunger relief efforts in communities worldwide. The effort has raised $36 million for WFP and other hunger relief organizations and is helping to provide approximately 160 million meals and save the lives of about 4 million people in remote corners of the world.
Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE:YUM) based in Louisville, Kentucky, is the world’s largest restaurant company in terms of system restaurants, with more than 36,000 restaurants in over 110 countries and territories. The company is ranked #239 on the Fortune 500 List, with revenues in excess of $11 billion in 2008. Four of the Company’s restaurant brands – KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Long John Silver’s – are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza, Mexican–style food and quick–service seafood categories, respectively. Outside the United States, the Yum! Brands system opened more than four new restaurants each day of the year, making it a leader in international retail development. The company has consistently been recognized for its reward and recognition culture, diversity leadership, community giving, and consistent shareholder returns.
Christina Aguilera is one of the most successful recording artists of the past decade, selling more than 42 million records worldwide. Aguilera’s 1999 self–titled debut album spawned three #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Aguilera has won four GRAMMY Awards and one Latin GRAMMY Award.
WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, and the United Nations’ frontline agency for hunger solutions. In 2009, WFP aims to feed 108 million people in 74 countries.
