Atlanta Mayor Awards Arby’s Foundation a Phoenix Award

Patch Staff Report

The Arby’s Foundation, the charitable arm of Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. (ARG), will be awarded a coveted Phoenix Award by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed on May 15, 2014 for their efforts to help end childhood hunger in Georgia and throughout the U.S. through their “School’s Out, Food’s In” partnership with Share Our Strength. 

In support of this youth-related cause, Arby’s and the Arby’s Foundation are inviting Atlanta-area residents to visit their nearest Arby’s restaurant on May 16, when 10 percent of all proceeds will be donated to Mayor Reed’s Centers of Hope summer meals program.

Free summer meal programs are critical to help meet the nutritional needs of kids at risk of hunger during the months when school is not open. The Arby’s Foundation also announced during the kick-off of this year’s “Hungry for Happiness” mobile tour that they will be providing all APS students in grades pre-K through five with punch cards redeemable for 10 wholesome kids’ meals this summer. The cards will also provide families in need of assistance during this time of year, a texting program with Share Our Strength’s “No Kid Hungry” campaign, which connects people to local summer meal sites through their mobile phones.

The Phoenix Award is the highest honor an individual or group can receive from the mayor of Atlanta. The award recognizes outstanding achievements and service to the city, state, nation or world.

"I'm so pleased that the Arby's Foundation has kicked off their national pilot program for ‘School's Out, Food's In” right here in Atlanta," said Mayor Kasim Reed in a news release. "With more than 77 percent of APS students qualifying for free or reduced price school meals, contributions like this are critical to supporting the alleviation of childhood hunger, particularly during the vulnerable summer months."

Twenty-one million kids in the U.S. receive a free or reduced price lunch, and only three million of those kids have access to that meal in the summer time. While one in five children in the U.S. are at risk for hunger, that statistic jumps to one in four in Georgia.

“Children can’t be their best without proper nourishment,” Paul Brown, CEO of Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc., said in the release. “And summer is a particularly challenging time when access to food is even more difficult as schools are closed. We want to help alleviate that problem.

"We’re pleased to work with Mayor Reed and help test programs in our own backyard that will provide the children of Atlanta with access to nutritious meals this summer and potentially help solve a very serious challenge for our youth nationwide.”

Arby’s is the largest quick service restaurant to partner in a nationwide effort with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, which is dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America, and has raised more than $11 million for its mission since 2011. Arby’s and the Arby’s Foundation have generated significant national awareness of the childhood hunger movement by leveraging its restaurants and digital and social media properties in the fight to end childhood hunger in Atlanta and America.